I Am Number Nine
by Emiko.Nakamura
Summary: Jenna Parker is a sixteen year-old alien that moved to the States from Canada. After the long move, she meets some...interesting... people... Can she fit in and hide who she really is, or will everything be revealed? Let's see, shall we?
1. Chapter 1

New school. New Year. New life.

You see, nothing in my life lasted for very long. Two weeks ago, my hair was blond, I was in Nova Scotia, Canada, and my name was Melinda Mayweather. Now, I have no idea where we are and I don't know what my name is yet.

Now, we're somewhere in the states. Running is all I really know. It's the only thing that has ever stayed the same in my life.

As soon as three died, we took off. Three of us down, six to go. I'm the youngest of my kind left alive. In only sixteen years, I've experienced more than anyone could possibly imagine.

But this is my life. I am number nine.

~One week ago~

"Mel. Hey, Melinda. Wake up." Marianne's voice whispered.

"Hmmm…" I muttered. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. "What's up?"

"We're leaving soon." She told me. "But first," She continued holding up a bottle of hair dye. "We're dying your hair."

A little while later, my hair was brown, like the color of chocolate.

"Have you decided on a new name yet?" Marianne said while packing her things.

"Yeah. Jenna. Jenna Parker." I replied.

"I like it. Good choice."

"Thanks." I smiled.

"We'll be arriving at our new home tomorrow."

"And where exactly is that?" I asked.

"Arizona."

"Why there?"

"I have business there. Be careful not to expose yourself. We need to be here for a while."

"Okay." I replied. And with that, we were off, to who-knows-where, Arizona. After about six hours of driving, Marianne pulled into a driveway.

"Hey Me-Jenna. We're here. Welcome home!" Marianne exclaimed. "You start school next week. Try to fit in."

"Always do." I snickered.

~Present time~

I start this new school tomorrow. To be honest, I'm really nervous about it. So, to clear my head I'm taking our dog, Moe, for a walk. Moe was a copper and white Pomeranian. I absolutely LOVE her. I was walking by these three girls and their dog. Moe started barking and growling at their dog.

Attention was being drawn to me. That's exactly what I try to avoid in this crazy, messed up life I lead.

"Uh… Sorry. She's… Loud… All the time." I said awkwardly. "Moe! No!"

"It's totally fine." The oldest girl holding the leash replied. "Hey, I've never seen you around here before. Are you new?"

"Uh, yeah…" Oh my, gosh, small talk. "My mom and I moved in a week ago. I start school tomorrow."

"Oh! Which school?" She replied.

"Uh… I'm not sure what's called… But it's the one that way…" I pointed towards the way my school was.

"Oh! I go there too! My name is Ella! That's Nudge," She gestured toward her mocha-colored companion, "And that's Angel." She gestured to a blond haired younger girl who was just staring at me.

"I'm Jenna. It's nice to meet all of you." I smiled at them.

"Hi Jenna!" Nudge exclaimed. She began bombarding me with questions about where I was from. I answered them as best as I could without giving information about me away. After a few minutes I had to leave.

"Bye Jenna! I hope we see you tomorrow!" Ella exclaimed. Then we parted ways.

I got back home. I unhooked Moe from her leash. She ran to the kitchen and I followed her. Her bowl was empty. I quickly filled it and then grabbed some of whatever was on the stove and sprinted to my room. I leaped on my bed and started eating.

Mmmm… Spaghetti… Anywho…

I booted up my laptop. I began to delete everything that I created as Melinda Mayweather. A facebook, an email, even a twitter account that I only made because my friend talked me into. You think after leaving so many times it would become easier.

Nope. It's still the hardest thing that I ever have to do. EVER.

I cried for twelve hours in the car on the way here. Marianne got fed up and told me to stop acting like a baby… Yeah… She's not exactly the motherly type… It scares me to think what my ex-friends would do if they knew I was basically a better looking E.T… After all, aliens were aliens…

I heard the door open and then slam. Marianne was home.

"Jenna? Are you home?" She called.

"Yeah! I'm in my room!" I yelled back. She appeared at my door in the next minute. I looked up from my laptop's screen. "What's up?"

"I picked up your new I.D." She walked in and handed it to me. "You are now officially Jenna Parker."

"Sweet. Thanks." I replied taking them from her. I took off my glasses that I need for reading and set them on my nightstand. I closed my laptop. Marianne was starring at me. "What's really up?"

"Jenna, you look so much like your mother…"

"Thanks." I smiled.

"You have her eyes. I see her in you everyday..." She stopped for a moment. I could've sworn I saw a tear fall from her eye… "She would be so proud of you, your father too. "

"Thank you. You don't know how happy hearing that makes me feel." Tears were welling in my eyes. "I always hope I'm making them proud. But I never know." My parents were on my planet when… Well, let's just say the reason the nine of us are here to prevent what happened to my planet never happens here or anywhere ever again… I don't remember my parents at all. We left two days after I was born. Marianne isn't my mother. I only say she is to anyone that asks. I can only hope that they're as proud of me as I am of them for laying down their own lives to save those they have never even met.

"Once your legacies develop they would be even more proud. They should show themselves any time now. You seem old enough. Here." She slipped a phone into my hand. "You'll be starting school tomorrow and if anything happens even a tiny pain somewhere on your body, you text or call me immediately. Got it?" Her voice was so serious…

"Got it." I replied taking the phone.

"Good. Stay on your guard." She told me.

"Always do." I smiled.

"I know." She said wrapping her arms around me. I hugged her back.

"You know, you're a pretty good mom." I said while in the hug.

"Thank you." She replied. "Well," She began after our hug. "Get some sleep. You have a big day tomorrow. Good night." She got off my bed and walked out.

"Night." I replied and laid down and eventually fell asleep.

"Jenna! You're going to be late! Get up, now!" Marianne screamed from the kitchen.

"Ugh!" I grunted throwing my pillow over my head. The next thing I knew, Marianne was in my room.

"Get up. Or else." She told me.

"Mmmmmm…" I muttered into my pillow.

"Okay, you leave me no choice." I heard her move closer to my bed. I felt her hands slip under my mattress. And then, she flipped my bed. Yes. Flipped it, with me on it. Good thing my pillow was over my face or I would have hit it on the unforgiving, wooden floor.

"Alright! I'm up!" I screamed. I hit the ground really hard. Blood gushed from my nose. I hit hard enough for my nose to bleed even with the pillow over my face. "Damn it! That hurt!" I shrieked.

"Next time, get up when I tell you to. You have one hour. Get ready. " She said walking out of my room.

"Ugh!" I yelled climbing out from under my mattress. I pinched my nose with one hand while digging through my closet for an outfit with the other. I found one and pranced to the bathroom. I looked in the mirror and hoped that my nose wasn't crooked. It wasn't broken. Just bleeding. A lot… Joy. I examined my light; grey-blue eyes that were apparently just like my mother's. I straightened my now brown, collarbone length hair and brushed my teeth. I was then ready to seize the day by laying low and pretending I'm a real girl. Oh, trust me, it's just as fun as it sounds. My nose slowly began to stop bleeding. I left the bathroom as soon as it stopped completely.

"Let me see your nose." Marianne said as I entered the kitchen.

"It's fine. I took care of it." I replied brushing her hand away.

"Just let me see it." She forcefully grabbed my nose and examined it. "Well, it's not broken."

"I know." I replied shaking my head so she would let go.

"Eat." She said shoving a bowl of… something in my face. Marianne was a horrible cook. What ever she made always looked really gross but magically tasted exactly like it was suppose to. I've learned not to question it.

I started eating. After I finished I went back to my room. I fixed my bed and grabbed my backpack. Then re-entered the kitchen.

"Ready." I said while putting my shoes on.

"I'm coming. Go let Moe in!" Marianne yelledfrom her room. I went outside and threw my backpack in the car. Then I walked over to Moe's chain and picked her up. Moe was no longer allowed to be inside at night on account of her constant barking. I walked back inside and sat down on the couch and petted Moe until Marianne came in and yelled at me to get in the car. And so it began.

We pulled into the parking lot. Then she dropped me off and sped away. And I was alone. Grrrrrreeaaattt… I found the office and walked awkwardly to the desk.

"Hello." The receptionist said in a sweet voice. "Are you our new student?"

"Yeah." I replied shocked. How did she know that?

"Well, alright Ms. Parker! Here's your schedule, map, and locker combination!" She smiled at me. "Want me to show you to your first class?"

"Sure. Thanks." I smiled at her.

"Let's go!" She said getting up from her chair. I followed behind her. The bell had rang so the hall ways were empty. She showed me my locker first and made sure I could open it then we were off to my first hour. I would rather face a whole truckload of Mogadorians, which are all trying to kill me, than walk into a classroom and have 28 sets of eyes automatically turn and stare at me like I'm everyone's shinny new toy. "Mr. Brown, I'm sorry to interrupt, but here is our new student."

"Ah, yes! I wondered where she was!" He replied. Wow… Did everyone know I was coming? "Come it, come it. Class, this is Jenna Parker!" He yelled ushering me to the front of the class.

"Jenna, please stop in if you need anything throughout the day. And stop by after school to pick up some paperwork that you need." The receptionist told me. I nodded and then she left.

"Jenna, if you don't mind, tell us a little about yourself." Mr. Brown smiled. And so the torturing begins.

"Well, I moved here from Canada…" I muttered a few people in the room chuckled.

"Why?" Brown asked. He looked intrigued.

"Uh, m-my mom got a job here." I stammered.

"Excellent!" He exclaimed. "I think I've tortured you enough! Ms. Parker, please take a seat next to Ms. Martinez! Ella, please wave." Ella? Oh! I met her that one day! I hope she remembers me so we can skip introductions… I found her in the crowd and went and sat at her table.

"Hi Jenna!" Ella exclaimed as I sat down.

"Hi." I smiled at her. She began explaining to me what we were doing. I got it right away because apparently, I was smart. I didn't really know though. We were doing our work and talking until the bell rang. I walked out with her. The she began leading me over to a group of her friends. I recognized Nudge. But that was it.

"Jenna!" Nudge exclaimed running over to me.

"Hey, Nudge." I smiled. A dark haired boy, a blond haired girl, and a blond haired boy trailed behind Nudge.

"Nudge, Ella, who's-?" The blond haired girl said.

"Oh!" Nudge spoke up. "Max, Fang, Iggy, this is Jenna! Jenna, this is Max," She pointed to the girl. "This is Fang," She pointed to the dark haired boy, "And this is Iggy!" She finished pointing toward the blond boy.

"Hey." I said.

"Hey." Max said.

"Hi." Iggy said.

"What's up?" Fang said.

"What's your next class?" Ella asked. I handed her me schedule. "Ew. Gym. That sucks. Fang, walk her there, okay?"

"Okay." Fang said. "Bye Max." He said kissing her on her mouth. Aww… They were dating. How sweet. We left after they were done.

"Is that the girl that Angel said she couldn't read her mind?" I heard Max whisper while Fang and I were walking away.

"Yeah." Nudge whispered back. They didn't know I could hear them.

"Let's keep an eye on her." Max said. Then we were out of hearing range. Uh-oh.

"Thanks for walking me Fang." I said as we were walking.

"No problem." He replied.

"Are you in gym this hour too, or are you just walking me?" I asked. Frankly, the silence was awkward. So, I broke it by asking weird questions.

"Yeah, I'm in it." He replied.

"Sweet. I won't be alone!" I smiled. I think he chuckled, but again, I'm not really sure.

"Here we are." He said as we arrived at the gym. "There's the girls locker room," He pointed at a door. "And that's the boys." He pointed at the other door.

"Okay. Thanks." I smiled at him and went to change. After an unfortunate hour of dodge ball, the bell rang. Fang and I walked together again. We met up with everyone again.

"Hey Max." Fang said hugging Max.

"Hey." She replied in the hug. And that's how the first half of the day went. During lunch I sat with all of them. It was kind of fun, not going to lie. They were all just talking. People would walk by our table and stare at me. Yeah, being the new kid sucks. I was completely zoning out when Ella nudged me. I looked up to see everyone looking at me, waiting for a response.

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked puzzled.

"I said: what are you doing after school?" Ella asked.

"Oh, uh, nothing. Most likely." I stammered.

"Would you want to come over?" Iggy asked.

"Sure. I guess." I smiled realizing that I was accepted into a group of people. "But I have to stay after for a few and talk to the office people though…" My smile faded.

"I'll come with you." Iggy smiled.

"Okay." My smile returned.

After lunch, Iggy walked me to my next class. Somehow we got on a conversation about being blind. Then, he revealed to me that he was blind…

"You're blind?!" I exclaimed.

"Sh!" He yelled covering my mouth with his hand. "Not so loud. That's supposed to be a secret." He whispered.

"But, but, but… You can't be blind… You looked me in the eyes all through lunch…" I whispered.

"I can hide it well." He chuckled. "Don't tell Max I told you or she'll be ticked."

"I sense she doesn't like me very much…" I stammered.

"Nah. She's just… Protective of our little family." He smiled. "We have a colorful past." His smile faded and his sightless, pale blue eyes turned troubled. "She just wants to make sure that what happened in our past doesn't happen again."

"Oh. I totally get it." I replied. "Mari-My mom is the exact same way with me." I smiled and touched his arm reassuringly.

"Thanks." He smiled. "Alright, there's your class he pointed to a door acrossed the hall, "And here's mine." He gestured toward the class right next to us. "I'll wait for you when the bell rings."

"Thanks. Uh, Iggy?" I said

"Yeah?" He replied.

"Never mind. See you after class." I said and walked off. How could he possibly be blind? He knows where everything is! Strange. Oh well. I was thinking about this all hour. And when I heard the bell ring, it scared me. I was the last one to leave the class. I saw Iggy perched up against a wall actually waiting for me. I walked over to him.

"Hey Jenna." He said.

"How'd you know it was me?" I chuckled.

"I have my ways." He smiled. "Let's go." He walked off with me trailing right behind him like a lost, little puppy. We met up with everyone again. I couldn't wait until the end of the day. I was so happy to be finally accepted so quickly. Thank gosh it came quickly. I met up with Iggy after the final bell rang and we went to the office together.

"Hello Jenna!" The receptionist from earlier exclaimed. "How was your first day? I see you've made a friend! Hello Iggy!"

"Hello." I replied right as Iggy said, "Hi."

"My first day went well. I didn't get lost." I continued.

"Great!" She smiled. She handed me a pile of four or five papers. "If you could just have your mother sign those and return them to me tomorrow, I'd appreciate it." She was still smiling. To be honest, her perkiness was beginning to freak me out, and it takes a lot to freak me, the alien, out.

"Alright, I will. Thank you." I smiled.

"Mhm. Have a nice day!" She exclaimed as we walked out.

"She scares me." Iggy said as we walked to the parking lot.

"Glad I'm not the only one." I replied. We walked out of the school and saw Ella who waved us over.

"Hey, my mom will be here in like, five minutes to pick us up. Max drove Fang and Nudge home." She told us. We sat down on a bench and waited.

"So, Jenna, where'd you move here from?" Iggy asked.

"Canada. My mom got a job." I told him.

"Oh… Canada… I like their bacon…" Iggy shrugged.

"Oh, yeah. Who doesn't like fancy ham?" I replied. Ella and Iggy both started laughing. Then a car pulled up to the curb.

"That's my mom." Ella said getting up. Iggy followed and I trailed behind him. We all got on the car. I sat in back with Iggy. Ella's mom turned to me.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Valencia Martinez, Ella's mom." She smiled at me.

"Hi, I'm Jenna, Jenna Parker." I replied shaking her hand.

"It's nice to meet you." She said.

"Yeah, you too." I smiled. Then we were off to their house. I was nervous again. I hoped I wouldn't screw up and make my new friends not like me. I suddenly realized that I had a really bad headache. Like, really, really bad.

I grabbed my forehead. My brain felt like it was throbbing.

"Hey, Jenna, are you okay?" Iggy asked from next to me. How did he know what I was doing?

"Yeah. I'm fine." I made myself smile and look like nothing was wrong. I could hide pain very well and smile through almost everything. It was silent until we pulled into Dr. Martinez's driveway.

"Here we are." She said as we stopped in front of her garage. My head still wasn't feeling any better. We all got out of the car and walked inside. We were then greeted by Nudge followed by the dog that Moe had barked at yesterday.

"Hi Total!" Ella exclaimed and bent down to pet the dog. "Iggy, Nudge, show Jenna around, will you?"

"Sure." They both said turning to me. "Let's go." Nudge added grabbing my wrist and towing me behind her. Iggy followed behind us. She began pointing things out and telling me what things were. I was focusing more on my head and what was happening to me. She must have finished the tour because we were back in the living room. We were sitting on the couch. Max and Fang walked in along with two younger blond children. One was that Angel girl that just stared at me yesterday.

"Jenna, this is Gazzy and Angel." Max said pointing to the boy and girl.

"Hi." I said smiling at them.

"Hi!" The boy, Gazzy, exclaimed smiling back at me. Angel just stared at me again. What was her deal? And then I heard it.

'Why can't I read her mind?' I heard Angel say but I didn't see her mouth move…

"I-I'm sorry? Did you say something?" I asked her.

"No." She replied in a snide tone.

"Oh. Sorry." I replied looking away. Angel shrugged and walked out of the room. I looked at Iggy. He was looking at me with his sightless eyes.

'I wonder what Jenna looks like…' I heard him say. His mouth didn't move at all. What was happening to me?

And then I began to hear everything at once.


	2. Chapter 2

What was happening to me?

This pain was… So unreal… My head was pounding. I heard everyone's voices at once… But no one was talking… My hands began to shake… I felt my phone in my pocket. Then I remembered what Marianne had told me.

Legacies.

I had to call Marianne. Right now. But I couldn't. I looked up. There were seven people focusing on the TV. They'd notice if I ran away and called my 'mommy'. Plus, I was sandwiched in between nudge and Iggy on a tiny couch. I couldn't really get up very easily. I had to do something and fast.

"Uh, Nudge?" I forced myself to say.

"Hmmm?" She said pulling her eyes away from the TV.

"Where's your bathroom? I forgot." I asked.

"C'mon." She replied getting up and leading me there. "Right here. " She said pointing to a door down the hall.

"Thanks." I said forcing myself to smile.

"Yep." She smiled back and walked away. My smile faded as I walked into the bathroom. I ripped my phone of my pocket and dialed Marianne's number. It rang twice.

"Jenna?" Marianne's hoarse voice said. "Jenna, where the hell are you?"

"Uh… A-at a friends house." I replied.

"Is something wrong?" She asked.

"Kind of…"

"Kind of?"

"Well, I-I… Think… My legacies developed…" I stammered.

"Jenna, That's grea-… Oh… Oh no… Jenna, you need to get out of there. Now." She sounded mortified.

"What should I do? My head hurts so bad!" I replied.

"Make something up and leave." She told me. "Hurry."

"I will." I said and hung up. I left the bathroom scheming. I plopped myself down on the couch. Pretend to be sick was all I could think to do. Maybe if-… Mayb-… May-… Dizzy… I was dizzy… I found myself leaning on Iggy. I tried to get off of him… But I couldn't… I couldn't move…

"Jenna? Jenna, are you okay? Jenna!" Iggy exclaimed. Iggy had moved to check if I was okay, but his moving caused me to tip off of the couch and crash to the floor below. I heard panic in everyone's voices as well as their heads. I tried to tell everyone I was okay but no sound came out of my mouth as well as my mouth wouldn't open in the first place. Then I began drifting to sleep… Before I knew it everything… turned… black…

I heard voices. Concerned voices. Marianne's voice… Where was I? I opened my eyes slowly. I was in a bed. Not my bed, but a bed. I saw Marianne in the corner talking to Ella's mom. Then it hit me: I was in the hospital. I saw Ella in the other corner. Were the others here too?

"Mom?" I said meaning Marianne. Everyone's head snapped in my direction.

"I'm right here, honey." Marianne said walking over to me and picking up my hand like a mother would do.

"W-where am I?" I stammered.

"The hospital. You passed out at Dr. Martinez's house." Marianne replied. Her expression was pained.

"Oh…" I replied. I looked over at Ella. She smiled at me. I probably scared the crap out of her. I smiled back.

'Thank God she's awake.' She thought. I could… Read minds? Whoa…

"When can we go home?" I asked Marianne.

"That depends." I heard a male's voice from behind her say.

"On?" Marianne asked. Her expression turned stone cold.

"We found some pretty serious scars on her right leg. We just need to ask you a couple of questions and you're free to go, as long as our suspicions are wrong. If not, you may be in a lot of trouble." He replied.

"What are your suspicions?" Marianne asked through clenched teeth. Hmmm… I wonder… Nah… I shouldn't read my 'mommy's' mind. That would be rude.

"We should probably talk about this in private." He said looking from Dr. Martinez to Ella.

"No. Just say it. They're probably not true anyway." Marianne replied. I could tell she wanted to do some not so nice stuff to this guy…

"Fine." He began. "We suspect child abuse." He said looking at me.

"What?" Marianne said stunned. Ella, Dr. Martinez's, and even my mouth dropped into perfect O shapes.

"Jenna, is this true?" The doctor asked me. Everyone turned and looked at me again. My eyes widened.

"Are you actually asking me if my mother abuses me?" I asked stunned. I began reading his mind.

'This kid is probably just going to cover for her mother.' I read.

"And I know you probably think I'm probably just going to cover for my mom, however, I just wouldn't. My mother does not abuse me. She loves me!" My voice was rising.

"How else could scars like this," He began as he walked over to the side of my bed and lifted the blanket off exposing my three scars of the symbols of the first three of the Garde that had died. "Happen to a person?" Ella and Dr. Martinez's eyes widened as they saw the scars. This was really, really bad.

"Because I was a stupid two year-old that fell into a fire. They're burns you idiot!" I practically screamed at him. My eyes were burning holes in his head. His thoughts were of questions, both good and bad. The kept opening his mouth as if to speak. But then it shut before any words could come out. He clearly did not know what to say next.

"I'll go get your discharge papers…" He said after about five minutes of opening and closing his mouth. He walked out of the room with his face turning as red as an apple.

"Well, that was awkward…" I said after he was gone. I was trying to lift the awkward blanket that was thrown upon us by that doctor.

"Yeah…" Ella replied.

After a few minutes, the doctor came back and I was free to go.

"I'm going to pull the car around." Marianne said and walked out.

"Me too." Dr. Martinez said and walked out after Marianne. "Ella, stay with Jenna." She added from the hallway.

"Hey… Uh… Sorry about all of this…" I said to Ella.

"Jenna, it's fine. We all get sick sometimes." Ella smiled at me.

"Yeah… But this… Was just… Weird…" I replied.

"The scars on your leg… How are those even possible?" She stammered.

"I wish I knew…" I lied looking down at my leg.

"When do you think you'll be back to school?" Ella asked changing the subject.

"As soon as I can." I smiled.

"Good!" She beamed back. Marianne's face appeared in the doorway with Dr. Martinez.

"Ready to go?" Dr. Martinez said to the both of us.

"Yeah!" Ella and I both said. I was ready to leave like the minute I woke up. Of course, I had to ride out of the hospital in a wheelchair pushed by a nurse. A male nurse… A murse. Strange planet, Earth…

We reached Marianne's car and the murse helped me out of the wheelchair and into the car. Then I said bye to Ella and her mother and we were on out way home. It was silent in the car. I could tell Marianne was not happy with me…

"Hey…" I said after like ten minutes of uncomfortable silence.

"Jenna… What happened?" She almost yelled back. Yelling was my way of knowing she was concerned.

"I don't even really know. One minute I was happy and the next I had this searing headache. And then I fainted… That's all I know." I replied. Her thoughts were still full of questions.

"Well, I got a call from Dr. Martinez saying she had to call 911 because you fainted on her living room floor." She replied keeping her eyes locked on the road.

"Oh… I'm sorry… It all happened so quick I guess I kind of just blacked out or something…" I said with my eyes locked on the floor. I could hear her thoughts.

'Was this really a Legacy?' She thought.

"Yes. This really was a Legacy, Marianne." I replied still looking at the ground. Her head snapped in my direction. "I can read minds." I said still not looking at her. "Watch the road. I can read the mind of the oncoming driver. You're half way in his lane! He's quite terrified!" I yelled as she swerved back into our lane.

We rode home in silence for the rest of the way. Her head was full of astonished questions. Some were concerning and some were flattering. We got home and she ordered me to sit on the couch and wait for her to get something from our shed in the backyard. I obeyed her without a word. I sank down into the couch. Moe jumped on me in the next second. She began licking my face. Marianne came in and ordered Moe down. She listened. Even the dog knew Marianne's harsh, acidic tone from her normal tone. I was either in deep shit or it was Lorien secret time. My guess is both.

"Jenna," She began setting a wrapped bundle on the coffee table. "As you know, your parents were members of the Loric Garde. Which would've made you a member if we were still on Lorien." For the record, Lorien was my former planet. "Before I go on, you know what your scars on your leg mean, correct?" I nodded. "Well, your necklace is your symbol."

"What necklace?" I asked.

"This one." She reached in the bundle and pulled something out and held it up. "I decided to keep it until you were old enough to take care of it. And now that your Legacies have developed, I know that you're ready." She handed it to me. I took it and put it around my neck and then studied it. Marianne pulled out a knife that glowed blue at her touch along with a gun that I recognized. It was from my planet. Number six, who was my biological, older sister, and her protector had given it to Marianne and I about four or five years ago. We ran into each other somehow in Japan. I've lived a lot of places…"We're going to start training tomorrow."

"Training?" I was puzzled.

"To control your Legacies and your other powers."

"Other powers? You're not making any sense…" I muttered.

"Super human abilities and telekinesis. Your super human senses developed early." She said as if this was just common knowledge and I should've already known this.

"When you say 'super human'," I put air quotes around 'super human' "Do you actually mean, like, super… Or just alien?" I asked.

"Don't get smart with me." She said.

"Never again." I said quickly looking at the floor. "Wait, tomorrow? What about school?" I asked snapping my gaze back to Marianne.

"You can't go back to school until you can control yourself. We do not want a repeat of what happened today at school, do we?" She said locking her eyes on mine.

"No." I replied ripping my gaze away and returning it to the floor.

"Jenna, look at me. Now." I slowly returned my gaze to her. "We're going to milk this 'sick' thing for a while, got it? " She hissed. I nodded sheepishly. "Jenna. This is serious. Do you understand?"

"Yes! I got it, all right? I'm under house arrest until I can control myself! I get it!" I practically screamed at her. Saying this probably wasn't a good idea… Marianne looked like she was about to explode.

"Bed. Go. Now." She hissed at me. She was pissed. Her mind said it all. I got off the couch and trudged to my room without another word. I slammed my door. I was pissed too. I finally made friends this year and now I can't go back. This was so unfair! I changed into my pajamas and lay down in my bed. I was exhausted. It only took a matter of minutes for me to slowly… drift… to sleep...

I awoke before daybreak. I glanced at my clock, 2:30 A.M. I still had at least four hours to sleep. I lay restless in my bed until 3:00 A.M. and the decided I was thirsty and got up to get a glass of water from the kitchen. I rose from my bed and left my room. I entered the kitchen and saw Marianne looking in the fridge.

"You too, huh?" She said still looking in the fridge.

"Yeah." I replied crossing the room to the sink.

"We never did have any dinner." She said. I heard the fridge door shut and looked up to see Marianne carrying this huge pile of food. She set it all down on the counter. I stuck my mouth under the faucet. I turned it on and held my face there for a few seconds.

"Jenna, use a glass." Marianne said. I looked up from drinking and saw her holding out a glass for me. I took it and filled it.

"Thanks." I murmured.

"Jenna, are you mad at me?" Marianne stopped everything that she was doing and just waited for my response.

"No." I sighed. "I wasn't ever mad. Just upset because I finally made friends. And stuff." I almost was whispering.

"Well Jenna, you know you need to be able to control yourself." She told me and began making food for us again.

"I know, I know." I said taking a sip of water. "I was just being stupid." I jumped up and sat on a section of the counter.

"Perhaps I wasn't being as mature as I should've been either…" Marianne admitted shyly.

"Let's just both agree to talk about our problems instead of just yelling at each other… Deal?" I said finishing my cup of water.

"Deal." She replied. She turned around holding a plate stacked high with sandwiches. "Now, get off my counter before I kick your scrawny, little ass." She said smiling. I rolled my eyes and snickered. I leaped of the counter then followed Marianne to the dining room. We ate and talked about things and actually had a nice night together for once.

Later that day, my training began. In the first few days, my telekinesis developed and Marianne thought it would be a good idea to try to levitate myself. Yeah… That became more of a tiring game of how long I could last before falling on my… butt. But I began to get the hang of things the third day. And on the fourth day, my super strength and speed kicked in, which was really fun. I could run a mile in thirty seconds and I could bench press our car! Marianne was proud of me. I caught on to everything so quick. Now I could fully control whose mind I read and when I read it. Then it was target practice time. I had to find and shoot at targets using the gun my sister had given me. Marianne placed the targets. It had been eight days since my accident at Dr. Martinez's house. I could go back to school soon.

Finally.

I was shooting targets. Marianne was watching from a tree. After I made some progress, she left me alone to work by myself. It had been almost an hour and then I began to hear strange noises approaching me. I heard flapping wings. Big wings. And footsteps. And now I heard voices.

"Guys, I heard a noise over here!" A boys voice boomed from overhead. The flapping got lower and lower to the ground until it stopped completely. And then I heard a lot of footsteps. The other footsteps I heard before joined the new ones. Then whoever this herd was, they were coming my way. I quickly threw my gun in a nearby bush, thinking that it would be safe there. Right as I threw my gun the people came within seeing distance of me.

"Jenna?" An astonished female voice exclaimed.

"Hey?" I said wiping my throwing arm behind my head and whirled around to see who was there. "Oh, hey!" It was Ella and her family.

"What are you doing out here? Do you live around here?" Ella asked.

"Yeah. I live over there a few… miles…" I said with a shaky voice. "What are you guys doing out here?" I redirected Ella's question back at them.

"Exercising." Max replied quickly.

"Yeah, me too…" I replied nervously. "Clearing my head… I'm coming back to school tomorrow."

"Really?" Nudge said with a smile. I decided not to read their minds… I could have though.

"Yeah. I'm all better now. A sickness was going around my old school right as I left. I must've caught it." I lied through my teeth.

"Oh! It's good you're better." Ella said. When I wasn't looking, Gazzy snuck over to the bush that I had thrown my gun into.

"Hey guys! Look what I found!" He exclaimed holding it up. Uh-oh…

"What's that Gaz?" Max asked. We all went and crowded around Gazzy.

"It looks like some kind of… alien gun thing..." Fang commented.

"Yeah." I replied. My shaky voice returned. They all took turns examining it then it got back to Gazzy.

"I wonder if it's loaded." He was excited. I saw his finger reaching for the trigger.

"Don't touch the trigger!" I screamed. Everyone looked at me like I was an alien along with the gun. "Because I mean… If it's loaded it could be really dangerous… Right?" I recovered.

"Jenna, we can handle danger." Max assured me.

"Can I see it first?" I said acting excited.

"Sure!" Gazzy exclaimed handing it to me.

"What is this?" I asked discretely turning the safety on so it wouldn't shoot. I shrugged and handed it back to Gazzy.

"Here goes!" He exclaimed and pulled the trigger. I flinched as nothing happened. "Bummer." Fang whispered looking disappointed. Yes! Nothing happened. I was so relieved!

"Let's bring it home with us." Iggy said. "We can examine it further."

"Good idea, Ig." Max said. "I want to figure out what it is." I wonder why… I began reading her mind. 'Is this from the School? What if they're back? This could be bad.' I read. I had to get it back. What's the School? Hmmm… I saw Angel looking at Max. I then realized they were having a mental conversation… How? I then remembered something Max had said my first day of school… Angel couldn't read my mind… Could she read minds too? This just got weird… I watched as Iggy took my gun from Gazzy and stuffed it in his backpack. Something was up with all of their backs… except Ella… Just the way their skin moved… It looked like something was under their shirts… Hmmm…

"Jenna, want to walk with us back to the road?" Iggy asked zipping up his backpack.

"Sure." I replied shoving my hands in my pockets. We all started walking. I was reading everyone's minds. All their thoughts were about the gun. My gun. The one Marianne was going to scream at me for if she found out it fell into the hands of humans… This was bad… They were talking amongst themselves and I was just walking behind them. Behind Iggy… Behind Iggy's backpack… The one with my gun in it… Idea alert… I began opening Iggy's backpack with my telekinesis. After it was open, I carefully lifted it out and floated it into my backpack. I then shut my backpack and slung it over my shoulder. I got it back! Yes! Time to split. We reached the road and were about to part ways.

"See you all tomorrow." I said and smiled. They all took turns saying bye and then we left each other. I took off running shortly after. I was home in forty-five seconds.

Marianne was laying on the couch reading with Moe sleeping on her chest.

"Hey." I said taking off my black pleather jacket.

"How'd it go?" She replied looking up at me from her book.

"Fine." I said. I decided to hide what happened from her. "Can I go back to school tomorrow?" I asked sitting down at her feet.

"I guess. But after school you need to continue target practice." She replied looking back to her book.

"Thank you!" I exclaimed. I jumped up and sprinted to my room.

And then everything was back to normal... How long could this possibly last?


	3. Chapter 3

Night came and went fast as I sleeplessly awaited tomorrow. I got up right away for the first time in my entire life. I was sick of being stuck around the house for days on end. I dashed my closet and picked out an outfit. I grabbed a random shirt that I had gotten from my old school in Canada and a pair of gray skinny jeans. I made my way to the bathroom and changed. I put on make up to make myself look as if I had been bedridden for a week and finished by pulling my hair back in a ponytail.

I made a quick stop in my room to grab a sweatshirt before going to the kitchen.

"Hey." I said entering the kitchen.

"Good morning." Marianne said turning around with two bowls of some kind of food-ish thing in her hands. "Nice make up!" She exclaimed handing me a bowl.

"Thanks. Not too much?" I replied taking the bowl and grabbing a spoon. I hoped this was spoon food…

"It's perfect!" She smiled grabbing a fork. Damn.

"Thanks." I said again setting down the spoon and grabbing a fork.

It was soon time to go. I was excited to actually be going somewhere, even if it was high school… I got in the car and Marianne drove me to school. I had to return those papers that I was suppose to return a week ago… My bad… We reached the school and I get out of the car.

"Bye, mom." I said to Marianne and then turned and walked into the school. I went straight to the office.

"Hello!" Said the same perky receptionist.

"Hello. I'm here to return this paper work." I said handing her the papers.

"Thank you!" She exclaimed taking them from me. "I hope you are feeling better!"

"I am. Thank you." I replied with a smile.

"Don't be late to first hour! Have a great day!"

"Thank you. You too." I said and walked out the door. I went to my first hour and took my seat next to Ella.

"Hey!" Ella said as I sat down.

"Hey." I replied. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing really. We really only ever watch the news in this class. Your first day was the first a day we actually did work." She replied.

"Oh. Sweet!" I said. And today we did just that, watched news all hour… I think I like actually doing work better than this. The bell rang and Ella and I walked out together and over to her family.

"Look who's alive." Fang said as we approached.

"Hey." I said to all of them.

"Jenna's back!" Nudge exclaimed.

"I am." I replied and smiled.

"Great!" Iggy said from behind Nudge.

"Hey." Max said plainly. I still don't think she likes me… We all talked for a few more minutes and then Fang and I were off to gym.

"So did you guys look at that weird gun thing when you got home?" I asked. I knew that they didn't because I stole it from Iggy…

"Iggy lost it." He replied.

"What? How?" I asked acting like I didn't know.

"We're not sure. We got home and it just wasn't in his backpack." He said.

"Weird, we saw him put it in there." I said looking puzzled.

"I know. It must have flown away." He joked.

"What? Things can't fly…" I replied. Little did he know I could levitate myself: so I could fly…

"You'd be surprised." He snickered as we reached the gym. We played a rousing game of dodge ball. Again. Fang and I took turns terrorizing the freshman on the other team. I read their minds the entire time. Silly freshman… Fang and I weren't female dogs… After the bell rang we left. I was all hot and junk and decided to take off my sweatshirt. Fang and I went and threw it in my locker and then met up with our friends.

"Hey. How was gym?" Ella asked as we approached. Nudge wasn't here yet.

"Hot." I replied.

"Annoying." Fang replied.

"I bet." Max said.

"Uh, Jenna?" I heard Nudge say from behind me.

"Yeah Nudge?" I replied as she stepped beside me.

"Why does your shirt say Mayweather on the back?" She replied.

"What? It does?" I replied and foolishly tried to look at my back.

"Yeah." She said and pulled out the back of my shirt so I could see it. And there it was in plain English. Mayweather… My former last name… I forgot to throw this shirt away when we left Canada.

"Oh…" I said as I saw it. Now I had to think of a story to get myself out of this. Again. Everyone except Iggy was looking at the back of my shirt now. "Oh. Crap… This was my friend's shirt that I forgot to give back… He is going to be pissed!" I lied. Just for fun, I popped the P in pissed.

"Whoops." Max said.

"Yeah… I should call him…" I continued lying.

"Him, huh?" Iggy asked.

"Yeah…" I said.

"Oh." Iggy replied looking at the ground. "I think I should get to class." Iggy said and turned and left.

"Me too." I replied and left as well. What was Iggy's deal? I sat through my AP Bio class without batting an eye. The human anatomy was almost exactly the same as mine. Then it was lunchtime. My table insisted on talking about relationships, which I knew nothing about. I was love illiterate.

"What about you Jenna? Any lovers in your life." Ella said jokingly.

"Not a one." I said quickly while awkwardly poking the food on my tray with my spork.

"Really?" Nudge asked shocked. Everyone looked shocked. Especially Iggy.

"Yeah. I've never really been into the whole love thing." I said still looking at my tray. I heard everyone's shocked minds. Everyone was quiet for a while. It was awkward to be honest.

"Your necklace, where'd you get it?" Max asked breaking the awkward silence.

"My mom gave it to me." I said mumbled. I still felt awkward.

"It looks kind of like the scars on your leg." Ella said.

"Does it?" I replied pretending to examine it. "Weird." I finished dropping it. I felt so awkward about the whole love thing. I just wanted to leave. "Hey, I have to go to my locker before the bell rings. I'll be back if there's time." I said getting up.

"Can I come?" Iggy asked.

"Why not." I replied as I threw my tray away. Iggy ran after me as I walked away.

"I think we offended her…" I heard Fang whisper. I just kept walking.

"Wait up! You're like, running!" Iggy said from behind me. I slowed down.

"Sorry." I said as he caught up.

"What's wrong?" Iggy asked.

"Nothing." I said quickly. I didn't even look at him.

"Something is clearly wrong. We can either talk about it, or you can keep it bottled up in you." He said grabbing my arm to stop me from walking.

"I just felt really awkward back there. No biggie." I said rolling my eyes. Did Iggy actually care about me?

"Why, just because you've never dated anyone? That that's no reason to feel awkward." He replied.

"It's probably just as awkward as talking about your ex's." I said.

"Let's see. I dated Ella for a while… Ew, yeah, it is just as awkward." Iggy replied.

"Really, you and Ella?" I snickered. "What happened?"

"We just decided to end it. No fights or anything. She's got a new boy toy now." He replied.

"Are you okay with that?" I asked him.

"Yeah. It isn't awkward or anything. What I'm not okay with is when Max and Fang flaunt their little love affair for all to see at home. It's really gross." He snickered.

"I bet." I snickered. We started walking again.

"Did you really have to go to your locker or did you just want to leave the lunchroom." Iggy asked because I was just standing by my locker and not opening it.

"Yeah… I just wanted to walk around…" I replied.

"Cute." He said smiling.

"I know I am." I replied and flashed a smile. And then the bell rang. Iggy walked me to my English class like he had on the first day. Strange. When he had to leave I didn't want him too… I wonder why…

We learned about homophones today. You know, there, their, and they're? I already knew all of them. I learned them when I learned English before Marianne and I moved to England about ten years ago. So I just zoned out and doodled in my notebook.

"Ms. Parker, I'd love if you paid attention for at least a few minutes today." Ms. Garret called me out.

"Sorry, Ms. Garret." I replied. I can totally see why she's still a miss.

"Why don't you show the class what masterpiece you've been working on all hour." She demanded. I had been doodling my symbol that I wore around my neck. "Well come on up here." She demanded. I got up and trudged to the front. I was so not looking forward to making up yet another story to cover up the fact that I was an alien.

"Uh, this is my necklace…" I said holding up my drawing and my necklace so everyone could see they were the same.

"Where'd you get it?" Ms. Garret asked. Ugh. I hate this class!

"My mom gave it to me." I stammered.

"Where did she get it?" She asked. I could see that she was trying to piss me off.

"Egypt. Can I sit down now?" I asked.

"Why was your mother in Egypt?" She asked ignoring my question.

"We lived there for six months." I said. Man, I really wanted to punch this lady.

"Why?" She continued.

"I don't remember. I was really little." I said. Annoyance was clear in my voice.

"You may sit." Ms. Garret said finally. I almost ran to my seat. Ms. Garret was suddenly fascinated with me. I was reading her mind. It was filled with questions. When the bell rang, I was the first out the door. Maybe I moved a little too quickly to look human, but I didn't even care. I waited for Iggy where he had waited for me the first day.

"You got here fast!" He exclaimed as he approached me.

"I hate that class!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah… I had her when I was in your grade… She's such a… bit-female dog…" Iggy said quietly.

"Yeah! She totally is!" I exclaimed. We took off walking and talked about how much we both didn't like Ms. Garret. Then we met up with the group and they joined in the conversation. Apparently no one liked her…

I had one more class until the end of the day. Then today would officially be my first normal day of school. Math class. Pre-calc. Max was in it with me. The first day was really awkward because I thought she hated me. But we actually talked and worked together today. It was actually fun. Then the day ended. I went to my locker alone and opened it. I grabbed my sweatshirt, and my bio book and shoved them both in my backpack, then shut my locker. To my surprise, Iggy was hiding behind my locker door waiting for me to shut it. It scared the crap out of me!

"Iggy! How long have you been there?" I screamed. I had jumped like six feet in the air.

"Did I scare you?" He snickered.

"You almost gave me a heart attack!" I joked clutching my chest.

"I was actually going to ask you if you needed a ride home. Do you?" He asked.

"Sure." I replied.

"Let's go!" He exclaimed and took off. I was right on his heels. He led me to the student parking lot. Ella, Nudge, Max, and Fang all waited by a parked, blue mini-van. "We're giving Jenna a ride home." Iggy told them.

"Alright." Ella replied. "Everyone in." We all got in and then Ella took off driving. I had my drivers' license but I never drove anywhere mostly because I didn't have a car. I had to give Ella directions to my house so I was sitting in the passenger seat. We pulled into my driveway. Everyone gasped. I have to say: my house was pretty kick-ass. It was the first house that I actually liked. "You're house is beautiful." Ella said flabbergasted.

"Thanks." I smiled. "You guys want to come in?" I added. I heard a chorus of yeses and yeahs. So we all got out and went in. "My moms at work." I ran around and quickly hid all my alien stuff in my backpack.

"We have to go pick up Angel and Gazzy soon." Max told me.

"Okay." I started showing everyone around. "This is the living room. That's my moms room." I pointed up the stairs. Her room was the only thing upstairs. "Kitchen." I said leading then into the kitchen. "My room." I said as we walked out of the kitchen. ""Bathroom." I said pointing a crossed the hall. "Guest room." I said pointing down the hall. "And there's another bathroom in my mom's room." I said finishing the tour. I led everyone back to the living room. "And that's Moe." I said pointing to my sleeping dog resting in a chair.

"She's so cute!" Nudge exclaimed.

"Thank you." I replied smiling. We all hung out for a while and then they had to leave and I was left alone with Moe. Marianne got home about an hour later. I was doing my homework on the couch.

"Hey." She said walking through the door.

"Hey." I replied.

"What are you working on?" She asked looking over my shoulder.

"Biology. The human anatomy is so similar to ours." I replied.

"I know." She replied walking into the kitchen. "After you're done with your homework, go outside and train." She added.

"I will." I agreed.

I finished my bio then ran outside and started training. I was getting better fast. I trained for a few hours then I went for a walk with Moe for another hour. Then we went home. Marianne had dinner ready. We ate and then I went to my room and booted up my laptop. I just messed around on the Internet for a while. Then Marianne appeared at my door.

"Lights out." She told me. I closed my laptop. "Night."

"Night." I replied and went to bed. The next day went great; in fact, the next few weeks could not have gone better. I think I even gained Max's trust… And then the next day happened.

It started out normal and junk. Then first hour happened. We were watching the news and some cat had gotten rescued from a tree. Goody, goody. Then the next news story rolled in.

"In other news," The announcer began. "Do aliens really walk among us?" My head snapped up from my notebook. Ella and I were writing notes to each other. The video showed a fellow member of the Garde getting his third scar. He was caught on camera with his leg all light up and junk! Ella looked at me.

"Isn't that light up spot on his leg the same place you have a really bad scar?" She asked me.

"C-Coincidence." I stammered. I was shocked.

"Jenna, are you okay?" She asked.

"Fine." This was the last word I said all hour. I was scared for that number. I guessed that it was number four, but I wasn't really sure. The bell rang and Ella and I walked out. I still wasn't talking. I was too freaked out. We meet up with everyone. They were all chatting. When someone would talk to me I would just nod or shrug. I was very isolated to say the least. Fang and I walked to gym in silence and then I told the teacher I didn't feel good so I didn't have to do anything. I sat there and watched everyone play kickball. Then it ended. I waited for Fang to change and then we took off walking.

"Jenna, are you okay? You haven't said a word all through gym. Not that I don't prefer silence, but you usually talk to me." Fang said while we were walking. He sounded concerned. I shrugged.

"What's going on?" I heard Iggy say from behind Fang and I.

"Jenna's still freaked out about the alien news story." Fang told him.

"Jenna, aliens aren't real. Those were just some idiot's that knew how to use Photoshop." Iggy snickered.

'You have no idea.' I thought. Instead of saying that, I put on a fake smile and said, "Yeah, you're right. Aliens can't be real. I'm just paranoid."

"You see? Now let's go." Iggy smiled and picked up my wrist and led Fang and I away. We met up with the group. Third hour came and went quickly. Then it was lunchtime. Ella was talking about going to some geeky science convention thing tomorrow. Everyone refused to go. I don't know why though. It sounded pretty cool. "What about you, Jenna? You want to go?" Ella asked in between bites of pizza.

"Sure. It does sound pretty cool." I replied.

"Sweet!" Ella exclaimed. Everyone except Ella looked at me like I was insane.

"A science convention, cool?" Nudge asked.

"Yeah. I like science…" I replied finishing my nachos.

"You're weird." Iggy joked.

"I know." I smiled.

When I got home I did my homework right away, as usual. When Marianne got home I told her about the news story. She was just as shocked as I had been.

"We've been exposed." She whispered.

"I know." I replied.

"This could be bad. Watch your back." She hissed and then walked into the kitchen.

"Always do!" I yelled after her. I didn't do much training today. I felt lazy… I told Marianne about going with Ella tomorrow over dinner. She was fine with it; however, she made me carry either the gun or our knife just in case. I chose the knife. I liked the way it glowed at our touch. The light blue color reminded me of our planet…

Friday slowly became Saturday. Ella showed up at my house at 11 A.M. in her blue mini van. I packed my bag. I packed my wallet, keys, money (which was in my wallet), and the knife. I made sure that the knife was hidden so Ella couldn't see it if she looked in my bag. Then we were off. The convention was a few towns over so driving there was going to take a little while. We decided to rock out and blare music. We sang along and looked like total idiots… It was so fun! We stopped at a McDonalds for lunch. I ordered McNuggets. I love those little things! Then we went to the science thing. We sat through some lecture about the outer space that was actually pretty exact as to what was out there. Then we just walked around and looked at individual panels about different things. We didn't leave until it was dark out, at about 7-ish P.M. We were walking when we noticed a group of six or seven guys crowded around a car.

Our car.

Great.

"What do we do?" I asked Ella.

"I don't know. Why do people hang out in parking lots by cars that aren't theirs?" She replied.

"People suck?" I shrugged.

"Sometimes." She snickered. "Let's just go over there and tell them to move."

"I know karate! Just in case." I smiled.

"Good." She smiled. Then we walked over to the guys.

"Well, hello there." One of the guys said in a malicious tone. They were all smiling like predators. I smelled alcohol on their breath.

"Uh, hi. Can you get away from our car?" Ella muttered. Her voice was shaky.

"What's the rush? Why not stay a while?" The same guy asked. You would not believe the thoughts these guys were having at this moment.

"Move. Now." I said. My mouth stung with acid.

"Ooooh. This ones feisty." The guy said turning his gaze on me. He put his hand out to touch my hair.

"Touch me and you will regret it." I told him.

"I'll take my chances." His smile grew. I felt his hand lightly run through my hair. I saw the other guys begin to move towards Ella. My hand automatically moved. I grabbed his wrist. "You're quick. I like that." He snickered. I twisted his wrist. He yelped in pain. All of the other guys turned their attention to me.

"Ella! Get in the car!" I screamed as the guys all were coming at me. I kicked the guy that I was holding to the ground. Then I flipped another guy so he would land on him. I heard a car door open and shut. Ella was safe. I heard someone fumbling with a gun. My head whipped up and I saw him. I kicked the gun out of his hands and delivered another kick to his chest. I heard a whoosh and he dropped. I kneed one guy in the stomach and pushed him into the guy behind him. They both lost their balance and fell on each other. Then the first guy got up. I Just glared at him. I didn't know if he was going to attack or run. I don't think he knew either. Then he turned away.

"Guys run! This chick's strong!" He screamed as he ran away like a baby. His little group followed behind him. I watched them run until they disappeared into the night. Then I got in the car.

"Ella, you should let me drive. You're in shock." I told her. She nodded and we switched seats. I hit the gas.

"Are you okay?" I asked her as I pulled out of the parking lot.

"How the hell could you take six fully grown men all on your own? You're a sixteen year-old girl! That shouldn't happen!" She was yelling.

"I was mad. I lost control. You don't know the cruel, vile, inappropriate things they were thinking of doing to us." I replied.

"And you do?" She snapped.

"T-That's not important!" I stuttered. I think I said too much.

"Jenna!" She exclaimed.

"Okay, okay. I can read minds…" I couldn't believe I was actually telling someone.

"How?" She believed me! She didn't even sound phased.

"Remember that news story yesterday? 'They Walk Among Us'?" I replied.

"Yeah…" She breathed. I think she picked up what I put down…

"Yeah…" I replied.

"You're a…" She whispered.

"Take me to your leader Earthling." I replied. Her jaw dropped. I'm so glad I was driving and not her.

"Wh-where are you from?" She stammered. Wow. She was really good with weird.

"It's called Lorien… It's really small… Your scientists couldn't pick it up… Uh… It's the fourth planet from the sun, in between Earth and Mars…" I replied.

"Why are yo-…" She stopped.

"Why am I here? Because my planet is destroyed." I explained. "There's another small planet around mine. It's called Mogadore. Mogadore has Mogadorians on it. Mogadorians are trying to hunt us down and kill us one by one. The scars on my leg are the symbols of the fallen numbers. Number One was killed in Malaysia, Number Two in England, and Number Three in Kenya. I am Number Nine, the youngest of my kind, that we know of, left alive." I stared out the windshield. I didn't know how Ella was going to take to this. She was silent for a long time. "I know this is a lot to process, but it's true." I added.

"I believe you." She said finally.

"R-really?" I stammered.

"Yeah. Trust me, I've heard bizarre stuff. Well not as out of this world as aliens… But bizarre stuff." She replied.

"Out of this world? I see what you did there." I chuckled.

"But really… You're an alien? You're the last one I'd suspect…" She looked at me.

"Over the years I've found that the best way to fit in is to stick out. So that's exactly what I do. It's easy." I replied.

"How many schools have you been too?" She asked.

"A lot. Like, I can't even count them. I was enrolled in some for as little as a week before. Look, you're the first person I have ever told about this. You can't tell anyone. Not even your family. This is who I am, and who I am is a secret." I said.

"I won't. I promise. But, I should tell you, someone in my family can read minds as well…" She told me.

"Is it Angel?" I replied.

"How'd you know? Did you just read my mind?" She asked. Her jaw had dropped again.

"No, I overheard Max and Nudge talking about it on my first day." I smiled crookedly.

"You heard that?" She asked.

"Alien hearing is better than human hearing." I snickered. She chuckled.

"Now, can you not think about this or will you give me away to Angel and the rest of your family." I said as we entered town.

"Not sure…" She replied.

"You want to spend the night? We can talk about this more. Plus, Marianne will probably freak out on my less if you're there when she figures out you know."

"Sure!" Ella exclaimed and she called her mom. She Okayed it and we were off to my house. I explained everything to Ella who was surprisingly okay with everything. Marianne joined into the explaining when she found out Ella knew and how I took down six guys all on my own. Which for the record, she was so proud of!

Ella and I went to bed soon after that. After she was asleep, I sat up and wondered how tomorrow would go. Now that a human knows about me, would this be easier, or harder? My guess was harder. But that's just me.


	4. Chapter 4

Sunlight warmed my face as it came in through my window. It was bright outside. I shot a glance at my clock. 12:02 P.M. I nudged Ella.

"Hey, wake up. It's like noon." I told her.

"Good morning." She yawned.

"Good morning." I grinned getting up. I stretched my arms and legs. Ella got up and we went to the kitchen. "Marianne's at 'work'." I put air quotes around work.

"What does she do?" Ella asked.

"No clue. She won't tell me." I replied.

"Strange." She said.

"Indeed." I nodded. I made pancakes for us. Chocolate chip pancakes. The best kind of pancakes in the universe, and trust me, I would know. Then we got ready and left for her house. She was driving. "So, you're okay with all of this?" I asked.

"Yeah. I'm good with weird." She smiled.

"You're not going to tell your family right?" I drilled.

"Of course not, Jenna." She replied. Her tone made me believe her.

"I trust you." I told her.

"Thank you." She smiled. I smiled back.

We pulled into her driveway within the next few minutes. Iggy, Gazzy, Angel, and Nudge were all in the front yard. They all turned around when they heard Ella's car approaching. I read Ella's mind. She was really good at hiding thoughts and not thinking about things. We stopped beside her mom's car and got out.

"Hey Ella! Hey Jenna!" Nudge exclaimed.

"Hey!" Ella replied right as I said "Hi!"

"Hey!" Iggy said running up to me.

"Hey, Ig." I smiled. Ella and I went inside after everyone said their hellos. Max and Fang were on the couch. Iggy was right… It was awkward when Max and Fang flaunted their little love affair for all to see… Scared for life.

"Max! Fang! Break it up! Jenna's here!" Ella screamed when she saw them. They ripped apart.

"Hey. What's up?" Max said awkwardly.

"Getting our eyes brutally assaulted. How about you?" Ella said.

"Isn't it obvious?" Fang snickered. Max slapped him. My eyes grew wider than they already were.

"I think we scared Jenna." Max snickered.

"This is my family." Ella said apologetically.

"Sorry." Fang snickered.

"It's cool." I squeaked.

"Let's go to my room." Ella said grabbing my arm and towing me along behind her.

"Yeah, go!" Fang exclaimed. I heard a smack. Max must have slapped him again.

"So, sorry about that." Ella said as we reached her room.

"It's fine." I snickered. "Are they always so… in each others faces?"

"Yeah. It's gross." Ella replied.

"I'm so sorry." I chuckled.

"I am too." She smiled. Ella and I did our homework together. Then Ella's mom got home and made us all food. Which was a good thing because I was starving. After we ate we just hung out for a while. We were sitting on the couch that I had passed out on what seemed like so long ago now. Ella drove me home a little while later.

"See you tomorrow." She said as I got out of her car.

"Bye." I smiled. I pranced inside. Marianne was watching TV. "Hey." I said to her.

"Huh?" She looked around the room startled until she saw it was just me. "Oh, Hey Jenna." She looked back to the TV. "Are you hungry?"

"Not really." I said taking off my jacket and hanging it in our closet. "I ate at the Martinez's." I crossed the room and plopped down into the armchair next to the couch.

"Oh. Good." She muttered. She was acting weird… Even for being her…

"What's-…" I began.

"Can you take Moe for a walk?" She interrupted.

"Uh, sure." I agreed getting up. Something was up and Marianne clearly did not want me home… I grabbed Moe's leash and picked up Moe off of my bed. I went back to the living room. Marianne was gone. I shrugged and walked outside and put Moe down. Moe, of course, took off running as soon as her feet hit the ground. I caught her before she got too far away and put the leash on her. We walked around the woods for a little while. Then we went back home. Marianne was nowhere to be found. This was getting weird. I went to my room. I started to read 'Of Mice and Men'. Pretty soon I had passed out in my bed. I apparently was really tired.

I woke up the next morning and something just didn't feel right… Marianne was silently working in the kitchen. She looked exhausted, like she hadn't slept at all last night.

"Morning." I said as I entered. I was dressed in a pair of dark gray-ish skinny jeans and a white V-neck shirt. Yes, I not what you call a snappy dresser.

"Hey." Marianne mumbled. I sat down at our table. She handed me a bowl of cereal. Yes. Cereal. Plain, old cereal. Something was seriously wrong with this picture.

"Thanks." I said.

'I can't believe this is happening.' Her mind told me. "Jenna! Do not read my mind!" She snapped when she realized what I was doing. I snapped my gaze away. We ate in silence after that. After Marianne finished she got up and dumped her bowl into the sink and dashed to her room without a word. I finished getting ready and let Moe in like usual. Then Marianne came out of her room. "Ready?" She almost whispered.

"Yeah." I replied. The next thing that happened really shocked me. Marianne walked over to me and threw her arms around me. Stunned, I just stood there and contemplated what to do. Slowly, I put my arms around her too. We never hug unless something bad was either going to happen or happened, so I knew this hug meant business. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, yeah." She said. I think I saw her wipe a tear away. "Go get in the car." I left without another word. She drove me to school silently. "Bye Jenna." She said without looking at me.

"Bye Mom." I smiled at her. I think I saw tears welling in her eyes. My smile faded and I got out of the car. I went inside the school. Marianne didn't tear off like she typically did. She stayed and watched me walk into the school. I heard her pull away when I walked into the school. I went to my locker and then first hour. School didn't even start for another ten minutes. I just sat there with my hands shoved into my black pleather jacket pockets. Ella came in a little while later. I must have looked anxious because she immediately started bombarding me with questions like, are you okay? Or, did something happen? I explained how Marianne was acting really weird and how I knew something was going happen to us. She really didn't know what to make of it. Neither did I really. Class flew by. I was tapping my pencil the entire time so I would stay remotely calm. This annoyed everyone in the class though. I didn't care. Given the choices: a tapping pencil or an out of control alien, I'm sure they would choose the tapping pencil.

The bell rang and I dashed out the door maybe a little too fast. People's heads turned. I ignored it. I went to my locker. I was greeted not thirty seconds later by Iggy.

"Hey." He smiled.

"Hey." I flashed a very fake smile.

"What's wrong?" He replied. How did he know something was wrong?

"Nothing. Stressed. That's all." I replied. My smile faded.

"You sure?" His face was concerned.

"Yup. Finals are next week. I have a ton of studding to do." I lied.

"You'll do fine. You're smart." He replied.

"Thanks." My fake smile returned. Then we met up with the group and were just standing around talking. Then Fang and I went to gym. We played soccer. Finally, something that wasn't dodge ball! To bad I suck at soccer and was banished to being goally in the back. Fang and I were on separate teams for the first time today. He got the ball and was coming at me with it. I was ready for it, or so I thought. He kicked it at the goal, pointblank at me. I put my hands up to catch it and completely missed it. The ball crashed into my face. I flew backwards and onto my butt.

"Oh shit!" I heard Fang scream. He was by my side within the next second. "Jenna, I am so sorry!"

"Fang, it's fine. I wasn't paying attention." I replied. My voice sounded weird. I suddenly realized my nose was gushing blood all over my gym shirt. "Damn it." I pinched my nose.

"Parker!" Mr. Malcolm, the gym teacher, said when he saw what was going on. "Fang, take her to the office!" He ordered Fang. Fang helped me up and escorted me to the office. Today was just not my day. I was taken to the sick room in the back and Fang stayed with me. My nose stopped bleeding in the next fifteen minutes. My gray shirt was totaled. My nose was a little swollen, nothing too major though. Fang walked me back to the gym and we both changed back into our real clothes. Class had ended while we were in the office. I went to my next hour. To my surprise, there was a substitute teacher.

"How nice of you to join us, Ms. Parker." He hissed. How did this dude know my name?

"I'm sorry. I was in the office." I replied handing him the tardy slip the office people had given me. He snatched it from my hand.

"Thank you. Please take your seat now, Jenna." He snarled. I nodded and went to my seat in the back. This was really started to freak me out. Who was this guy? He kind of reminded me of a Mogadorian… No, there weren't Mogs in my school… Were there? I did my work silently. The sub kept glaring at my. He didn't even try to hide it. It was just eyes, on me, all hour. 'So that's the girl that they hang out with. Interesting.' His mind told me. Okay, so he clearly wasn't a Mog. But, he didn't seem exactly human either… One thing's for sure, I wanted to leave. When the bell rang, I dashed out of there as fast is I could. Maybe a little too fast… People's heads turned. I ignored it though. One of my classmates, Lauren Foster, stopped me in the hallway.

"Jenna, did you know that guy?" She asked me.

"No, why" I replied.

"Because, he kept glaring at you all hour and he knew your name!" She told me.

"Yeah! I know! That was so creepy!" I exclaimed.

"That guy was such a creeper!" She replied.

"Such a creeper!" I agreed.

"Who's a creeper?" I heard Iggy say from behind me.

"The AP Bio sub." Lauren told him. His expression turned blank.

"Yeah. I heard about him from Max." He murmured. Lauren and I talked about the sub for a few more minutes and then Lauren had to get to class.

"Bye, Jenna! Bye, Iggy!" Lauren exclaimed as she turned and walked away.

"Bye, Lauren!" I called after her.

"Bye." Iggy almost whispered. I looked at Iggy. His sightless, pale-blue eyes were troubled.

"Iggy, is everything okay?" I whispered to him putting a reassuring hand on his arm.

"Wha-? Oh. Yeah. Everything's fine Jenna." He replied flashing a smile faker than the one I had worn earlier today. "Now, let's go to lunch." Iggy finished grabbing my arm and towing him behind him. We arrived at the lunch line. I couldn't help noticing that Iggy still looked upset or scared about something though. I didn't want to pry so I didn't ask again. I bought a piece of pizza, a yellow Gatorade, and a cookie. I waited for Iggy to get his food and then we went to our usual table.

"I think the AP Bio sub is an Eraser." I heard Max whisper as we approached. I don't think she wanted me to hear.

"What, really?" Nudge asked dropping the food she was holding. Her eyes widened.

"Yeah." Max replied. Terror was clear in her eyes.

"Stay on your guard." Fang said quickly before turning to me and saying: "How's the face?" to me to change the subject.

"Still better than yours." I mocked as Iggy and I sat down.

"What happened to her face?" Iggy asked through bites of his food.

"I beamed her in the face with a soccer ball today in gym." Fang replied.

"Way to go, Fang." Max snickered.

"However, Fang, you did not score on me." I told him.

"Next time." Fang snapped.

"You're on." I agreed.

"Well, aren't we a bit competitive today?" Ella giggled.

"Maybe a little." I replied. Fang chuckled.

The bell rang a little while later. Iggy went with me to my locker.

"Iggy, c-can I ask you a question?" I stuttered while I was putting in my combination.

"Of course, Jenna." He replied. I felt his sightless gaze on me.

"Um, what's an Eraser?" I asked as I opened my locker. I turned to see an astounded face frozen in horror. "Iggy? Are you-…"

"An Eraser is the end of a pencil you can't write with." He recovered as he grabbed my book and binder out of my locker for me. "Let's go." He snapped.

"I heard Max saying how she thought the AP Bio sub was an Eraser." I whispered as we started walking.

"You heard that?" He said turning his attention to me.

"Yeah." I said quietly.

"You, my friend, have good hearing." He replied. He was desperately trying to change the subject. I decided to drop it.

"Thanks." I smiled. "Hey, do you want to do something after school? Like, go for a walk around town or something?" I asked.

"Sure!" He beamed at me.

"Cool. I really don't want to go home, and no offence, but you seem stressed out." I replied.

"I am stressed. Wait, why don't you want to go home?" He asked as we arrived outside our classes.

"Long story." I replied as I grabbed my book and binder that Iggy so sweetly carried for me. "I'll explain later. Bye! Thanks for carrying my crap for me!" I exclaimed as ran into my class.

"Anytime, bye!" He called after me. I went to my seat and sat down and listened to Ms. Garret rant about how abbreviating words should be illegal. All. Frigging. Hour. I started to doze off. Ms. Garret, of course, noticed me out of everyone else around me who were all sleeping too.

"Jenna Parker! Wake up!" She screamed. Everyone's heads, including mine, flew up. I saw something flying at me. My hand automatically whipped up and caught whatever it was. Ms. Garret had thrown an expo marker at my sleeping body. How rude.

"I'm so sorry, Ms. Garret. This will never happen again." I replied sleepily.

"You bet your small butt it won't! I have half a mind to send you to the office!" She screamed.

"I'm sorry." I replied.

"Stay after class, Parker." She snapped. "Oh, and bring me my marker." She added. I wordlessly got out of my seat and walked to the front of the classroom. I handed her the marker and turned and trudged back to my seat. She continued ranting. This time about how sleeping is for at home and not at school. And she was starring me down the entire time. When the bell rang, I gravely packed up my stuff and waited until Ms. Garret and I were alone. She then lectured me about how irresponsible I was and how I should really adjust my attitude. After she was done, apologized again and thanked her for her loving words of wisdom. She hated my guts. Thank you mind reading abilities for enlightening me of the fact. I left and there Iggy was, still perched by the wall waiting for me even though Ms. Garret yelled at me for like two minutes straight.

"Hey… Thanks for waiting." I said as I reached him.

"What did you do? I heard Garret screaming at you from in my class." He replied.

"Fell asleep during her boring lecture." I snickered.

"Nice one, Parker." He chuckled.

"Thanks, Ig." I smiled and then we were off to my locker again. Then we went to meet up with our group.

"What took you two so long?" Nudge drilled as we reached them.

"Yeah, what were you two doing?" Max winked. Iggy automatically blushed a dark red color.

"Ms. Garret was yelling at me." I replied quickly before I had a chance to blush.

"What did you do?" Fang asked.

"Fell asleep while she was talking." I replied.

"Nice." Fang snickered.

"Right?" I smiled.

"Yeah." Fang replied.

We all went to our last hours after that. It could not have gone by slower. Then Iggy and I met up.

"Hey!" He greeted me with a warm smile.

"Hey." I replied beaming at him. He wrapped his arms unexpectedly around my waist. I was a good surprise. I responded by wrapping my arms awkwardly around his shoulders. I had to stand on my tiptoes to reach.

"So where do you want to go?" He asked after our hug. We began walking towards the entrance, well in this case, exit, to the school.

"I don't know. Anywhere special you want to go?" I asked him.

"I have like five dollars. Want to get slushies or something?" He replied.

"Sure. But, I'm paying you back." I replied.

"Whatever your heart desires." He snickered. We walked to a gas station and Iggy bought us both slushies.

"Thank you, Iggy!" I said for the fiftieth time.

"Jenna, it's like ninety-nine cents. Chill out, okay?" He laughed.

"Sorry." I snickered. "I hate it when people spend money on me." I stated.

"Well, I don't mind." Iggy smiled. We were walking around a park sipping our slushies. It was kind of chilly outside and I forgot my jacket in my locker because I rock at remembering things. The slushie wasn't helping me at all with my coldness. I drank it anyway, though. Iggy accidentally touched my arm. I must have felt cold to him. "Hey, do you want my sweatshirt? You seem cold." He asked.

"Don't you need it?" I replied. I wanted it so bad!

"Nah. I'm fine. He replied taking it off and handing it to me. He held it up and I stuck my arms through the armholes. It was one of the hoodless ones and it was black. Oh, and it was too big on me. But most importantly, it was warm and smelled good. So I was happy and warm. Against all urges, I didn't read Iggy's mind. I desperately wanted to know what he was thinking but I didn't want to invade on his privacy. We were just sitting on a bench talking quietly to each other. I have no clue how long we were there for. It was starting to get dark. "C'mon. I'll walk you home." He said quietly to me.

"Okay." I smiled. We got off the bench. We started walking towards my house. We passed a black car was stopped at a stop sign. I made awkward eye contact with the driver. He and all of his companions all had evil looks in their eyes that I recognized ever so much.

They were Mogadorians.

I snapped my head down and grabbed Iggy's hand and began towing him behind me. I was almost running.

"Whoa! Jenna! Slow down!" Iggy said from behind me.

"Shhh!" I hissed. "Those guys in that car can't see me."

"Why not? Do you know them?" He asked puzzled.

"Sure. Let's go with that." I snapped.

"Do you smell that?" He asked.

"Smell what?" I replied.

"Smoke." He said. I smelled. The strong aroma filled my noise causing me to break into a coughing fit. "Jenna?" He said. He forced us to stop. "Jenna, calm down. Who are those guys?"

"Iggy… I wish I could tell you… I really do… But, I can't." I whispered.

"Why can't you?" He replied in a patient tone. I looked up. I saw a line of smoke lingering like death in the air… In the direction of my house…

"Oh, no. No. No. No." I whispered.

"Jenna?" Iggy shook me gently. "Jenna, what the hell is going on?" He said softly. I threw my arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around my waist. This was a perfect moment. Too bad I have to ruin it.

"Iggy, this is the last time you will ever see me. Thank you so much for everything." I said softly into his ear.

"What-?" He began to protest but I pinched the pressure point in the back of his neck and he dropped. I laid him gently on the ground. I kneeled down next to him. Tears were welling in my eyes.

"Thank you." I wiped a tear from my cheek. "So much." I leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. I forced myself to turn and go. Leaving this time was going to be the hardest.

I had fallen in love.

I took off at full speed and forced myself not to look back. Trees flew by me by the twenties. I was at my house in thirty seconds. Like I feared, my house was engulfed in flames. It was a good thing I wasn't home today to face the Mogs when they attacked. But wait…

Marianne. Where is she?

I foolishly ran into the flaming house, grabbed everything salvageable and threw them into my backpack. I frantically ran into my room and grabbed the glowy knife and the gun that I had been practicing with last night. Sweat poured down my face. I heard the faint sound of barking. Moe.

"Moe!" I called. "Marianne?" ran up the stairs and to Marianne's room. Moe was waiting behind the flaming door madly pawing trying to make his way out. I flew the door open and picked Moe up. I put her part of the way in my sweatshirt so she was protected from the blaze. My sight became blurry. I had to get outside before I fainted. I was about to turn and rush down the stairs when something on Marianne's desk caught my eye. I quickly picked it up; it burned my hand, and flung it into my backpack. Then I turned to the stairs only to find them collapsing to the ground. I anxiously searched around the room for something that was not on fire. I noticed the desk chair wasn't that engulfed… I picked it up and hurled it at one of the windows. It shattered and I ran to it. I looked down only to see two stories between the ground and me. I took a deep breath and flew myself out the window right as the house began to cave in around me. I heard glass shattering and wood snapping. Something hot caught my leg and dragged me to the ground. Lucky for me, I landed on my back so I didn't hurt Moe. I dragged Moe and I to safety and then forced myself to my feet. My knee buckled under my weight.

"Agh!" I screamed as I crashed back to the ground. I let Moe out of my jacket. Scared, she nuzzled herself under my arm. I stroked her gently and slowly moved my gaze down my left leg. I saw my what could not have been worse at the time; a gash that stretched from about my lower thigh to about halfway down my knee. My pants were torn and singed.

I sighed and forced myself to my feet again. This time, I leaned most of my weight against a tree. Knowing I had to get out of time, I stumbled my way through the woods and out of town, calling Moe behind me. I went as far as I could before collapsing to the ground at the base of tree. Moe nuzzled herself back against my arm. My back, leg, and hands really hurt. I was exhausted and covered in grim, ash, and sweat. My face was almost completely covered. I tried to wipe it off as much as I could but my hands burned really bad. Tears began pouring down my face. The thought that Marianne was probably dead really hit me hard. She was basically my mom. And today's events took their toll on me too. My leg really hurt and was bleeding pretty bad too. I rummaged through my backpack to try to find something to cover it with. I probably should've done this before I walked like two miles… After I wrapped my leg with my gym shirt that I had already bled all over earlier today, I let my head fall backwards. My eyes involuntarily shut and I was out like light. My last thought was about what Iggy was going to think of me when he woke up. It was terrifying to think that he was going to hate me.

But really, who doesn't hate me?


	5. Chapter 5

Iggy P. O. V.

I sat at lunch aimlessly poking at my food. What I had heard last night replayed and replayed in my mind.

~Yesterday~

I awoke in a patch of trees near the park. What had happened? Where was Jenna?

Jenna.

I sprang up and sightlessly rushed to Jenna's house. I heard sirens and heard many people shouting. Water was flowing near me and I smelled the almost unbearable smell of smoke. That could only mean one thing: fire. I managed to find a firefighter and try to find out what was going on.

"What is going on here?" I asked him.

"There has been a fire. The house is destroyed." He told me.

"Well, obviously. Where are Jenna and Ms. Parker?" I almost screamed.

"The occupants?" He began in a quiet tone. "Son, you may want to sit down."

"I'll be fine standing." I snapped.

"Suite yourself then." He replied in a soothing tone. "Well, we haven't found either one of the occupants and we knew they were home because we found blood in the wreckage. A lot of blood." My mouth dropped. All of the blood flooded from my face. I was speechless. Jenna… Jenna's… Jen-… I collapsed in a heap on the ground. I felt the firefighter kneel down beside me. He started calling for help. Jenna's face was plastered in my mind as I gave into the black.

~Present time~

By now, mostly everyone knew. Ms. Garret was crying and going on and on about how bad she felt about yelling at Jenna yesterday. Max, Fang, Ella, and Nudge all got to the table and sat down in their normal spots.

"Why is Iggy depressed?" Nudge asked Max. Okay, so, everyone but Nudge knew I guess.

"Jenna's house burned down yesterday and they still haven't found her." Max whispered to Nudge. I felt her shocked, sorry gaze on me.

"Iggy, I am so sorry. We all know how yo-…" She began.

"Save it." I interrupted. I got up and threw my still full tray into the trash and walked out of the cafeteria. I heard my shocked family whispering in my wake. I felt their eyes on me as I stormed out of the room. I was walking down the hallway where did Jenna and I had walked down together just yesterday. I heard footsteps behind me. I whirled around.

"And just where do we think we're going, Iggy?" I heard a very familiar voice hiss.

"Ari. To what do I owe this fabulous reunion?" I said sarcastically.

"Aw, what's the matter?" He replied in a tone of mock sympathy. I heard two more Erasers come up from behind. One was the AP bio sub. Max had been right. "Where's that pretty girl your always hanging around with?" Ari continued. I clenched my fists. I heard Max, Fang, and Nudge approaching from behind the Erasers. "What's her name? Jenna?" He mocked. My breathing caught. "Where's Jenna, Iggy?" Ari continued.

"Dead!" I screamed and lurched myself at him.

And so it began…

Jenna P. O. V.

My eyes slowly opened. Bright light instantly blinded me. I yelped in pain and rubbed my eyes. My hands felt numb. I examined them. My palms, area under my thumb, and fingers were pink and puffy. My back felt stiff, but other than that, felt fine. I looked down at my leg. It was still as gashed as ever and my foot was numb, but the bleeding had stopped, so that was good. Thank you accelerated healing! I looked down at Moe. She was still sleeping at my side. I was still really tired. I put my head back and soon was asleep once more.

I dreamed someone was yelling my name and shaking me. Wait a minute…

"Jenna? Jenna! Oh my God, Jenna! Guys! Down there! Look!" I heard a frantic voice shriek. My eyes flew open. I looked around and saw no one. Was I hearing things? Just then, six creatures landed around me. Yes, landed! Like, they were flying and now they're grounded! Flying. My eyes widened.

"Jenna?" I heard an astounded voice whisper. I finally put two and two together and recognized who these people were: Max, Fang, Nudge, Angel, Gazzy, and Iggy. They all looked just as shocked as I was.

"You all have… wings!" I screamed.

"You're alive…" Iggy whispered. "They said you were home! They said they found blood proving that you died in the fire!" He was screaming now. Not at anyone, just screaming. Max's gaze made it's way down my leg. She noticed my bloody jeans.

"Found where the blood came from…" She breathed. They all looked at my leg. I heard a few gasps; I'm not sure who they came from though.

"How do you all have wings?!" It was my turn to yell.

"Jenna, can you stand?" Max asked.

"Of course." I lied. I really wasn't sure. Iggy and Fang moved to my sides. They both took one of my arms and helped me up. Moe woke up and ran over to Nudge and jumped on her. How precious. I was on my feet. Let me rephrase, I was barely on my feet. Pain shot up my body in waves. I was positive I wasn't going to be able to walk. My knee wouldn't bend. The shirt I had covering it fell to the ground revealing the wound to everyone. Again, I heard gasps.

"She's not going to be able to walk." I heard Angel whisper to Max.

"I know that, Angel." Max snapped. 'We have to keep moving. The Erasers will catch up any minute. But we can't just leave her… She'll be dead by morning…' Max's thoughts told me. "Jenna, where's your mom?" Max asked me. I was silent and looked down at the ground below me. "What do you weigh?" She said quickly as a response to my silence.

"Around one-thirty. Why?" I replied. Pain was clear in my voice and I was heavily leaning on Iggy for support. I felt like a helpless idiot.

"Because we need to keep moving and you can't walk. We're going have to fly on." She told me.

"Keep moving from what? Guys, none have you have answered any of my questions. How do you all have wings? What are you running from? Shouldn't you all be at school or something?" I replied.

"We'll tell you everything on the way. We just have to go." Max retorted.

"Okay." I decided not to argue with Max.

Iggy carried me first. To be nice, I levitated myself a little bit to help with my weight problem.

"You're light." Iggy said after a few minutes of being in the air.

"Thanks." I said weakly.

"How much does it hurt?" He asked gravely.

"A lot." I whispered. My head was resting on his shoulder. I was drained. Probably on account on all the blood I had lost yesterday. "Hey, sorry for yesterday." I murmured into his collar.

"What about yesterday?" He replied.

"Knocking you out." I whispered. "Oh, and almost stealing your sweatshirt." I added as I remembered I was still wearing his sweatshirt from yesterday.

"Don't worry about it." He replied in a soothing tone. I heard the smile in his voice. "Go to sleep." He whispered. "Don't be scared. I got you." He spoke in a relaxing tone. It alone was making me drift to sleep. I shot a quick glance over to Nudge. I saw Moe in her arms. I laid my head back down and allowed myself to close my eyes. As soon as they shut, I was out.

"Jenna. Hey, Jenna. Wake up." I heard a voice whisper.

"Hmmm?" I groaned. When I opened my eyes I realized we were on the ground. I was resting against Iggy at the base of a tree. I was still in Iggy's arms. Iggy had been the one who woke me up. "Hey." I said groggily.

"Hey." He smiled a smile that almost made me melt inside. I looked away and stretched out my arms and leg that didn't hurt like if I moved it, it would fall off.

"Where are we?" I asked looking around. Sleep was still clear in my voice.

"In the woods." He told me.

"I noticed that." I smiled. "I meant like where are we. Like, the state." I replied.

"Oh. I'm not really sure." He replied. I noticed it was dark out.

"How long have I been sleeping?" I asked shocked.

"A few hours." He snickered.

"And you carried me the entire time?" I asked.

"Yeah. You're not very heavy." He smiled. Thank you levitation. I chuckled.

"Thanks." I looked up. Nudge and Angel were petting Moe. Moe looked up and saw me. She took off running at me. She reached me and immediately jumped on me and started licking my dirty face. I petted her fuzzy little head. She too, was covered in ash and soot. I sighed.

"What's wrong?" Iggy asked.

"Nothing." I replied quietly. I noticed Max, Fang, and Gazzy weren't around. "Where'd everyone else go?" I asked.

"They went looking for food." Nudge told me.

"Ah." I replied. "So how is it you all have wings?" I pried.

"Uh, we'll let Max tell you when she gets back." Iggy replied.

"Okay." I agreed. I thought about telling them about me being an alien… I am probably going to have too if we're all going to be together for a while… I'll just let time decide if I should or not. I scanned the area for my scorched backpack. "Nudge, hand me my backpack." I said. She wordlessly got up and grabbed my backpack and set it in my lap.

'Great. Now Jenna thinks I'm a freak.' Iggy's mind screamed. Little did he know that him being abnormal made him even more perfect to me. I wanted to tell him how wrong he was and give him a gigantic hug, but I think that would give me away. Instead, I rummaged through my backpack. Iggy was blind, so he couldn't see what I had inside, which was kind of a really good thing in a way… But also not because he was blind… I saw the knife, the gun, the box, and the few other things I had saved from my inferno of a house. I sighed again.

"What?" Iggy asked.

"I want to stand up." I said.

"But, your leg…" Iggy reminded me.

"I know, I know. I just want to see if I can weight bare." I replied. Iggy sighed and moved from behind me. I felt him get up and he and Nudge helped me to my feet. Iggy stayed locked in place beside and held my arm for support. I let a little of my weight rest on my left leg. It hurt really badly, but I could deal with it.

"You doing okay, Jenna?" Iggy asked.

"Yeah. Just fine." I replied. Agony was clear in my voice.

"Jenna, maybe you should sit back down…" Nudge said.

"I'm fine, guys." I lied. Iggy still held my arm. My leg killed. I wanted to flop on the ground and Iggy to wrap his arms back around me and just cry like a baby.

"Hey! Look who's standing!" I heard Max exclaimed.

"Yeah!" I smiled.

"Don't try to walk though. You look like you're in a lot of pain." She told me.

"Don't feel a thing." I lied.

"Now you're just lying." Max snickered.

"It's true." I admitted.

"Want to sit back down?" Iggy interjected.

"Yeah." I sighed. "May as well." Iggy gently lowered me to the ground. I leaned against the tree. Iggy sat down next to me and I turned and laid my leg across his lap. He was my leg pillow.

Max, Fang, and Gazzy had found some food. We were all sharing it and talking about what the plans were and where we were going. Finally, Max remembered the fact that I still didn't know how they could possibly have wings.

"Jenna, we were all born in a place called the school. The school is basically a mad science lab. We were all born with wings and have bird DNA in us. Angel and Gazzy are the only biological siblings in our flock. We escaped the school when I was ten. Then they found us four years later. Then some things happened and we saved the world apparently. And now were here. Three years later, they're back again. Remember the A.P. bio sub?" I nodded. Max went on. "He was what you call, an Eraser; a half human half lupine hybrid. They're what we are running from." She finished.

"Really?" I said astonished.

"Yeah." She replied in all seriousness.

"Wow." I was at a loss for words.

"Yeah." Max replied. They gave me a little time for that to sink in before they started throwing questions at me. "So, Jenna," Max began. "What were you doing that far out of town?" My eyes widened. I had no idea what to say. Everyone was starring at me…

"Well, I-…" I began.

"They're over here!" We heard voices scream.

"Crap!" Max yelled. "Up and away!" Iggy scooped me up in his arms and they all took off flying. The Erasers swarmed our camp. They grabbed the flock's legs and pulled them back to the earth. This caused Iggy to accidently drop me. I landed directly on my bad leg. It was twisted at a really strange angle now. Not only was it gashed open and bleeding again; it was broken now too. The pain was almost unbearable. The Erasers were bounding and gagging everyone, except me.

"This one's hurt. I don't think she can really get away or fight." One said.

"Who is this? I've never seen her before in my life." Another said.

"Let's just take her." The first one said and picked me up roughly. I didn't have the strength to fight. I was thrown in the back of a van with the rest of the flock. They were all tied up though. I made eye contact with Max. Her gaze was apologetic. I flashed her a small smile and then everything turned black. I had fainted again.

I awakened in a small cage. Something felt different about my leg. I looked down. It was wrapped in a white cast that stretched from my mid-thigh to the bottom of my toes. I sat up. So funny story; I was in a dog crate! I could barely sit up without hitting my head on the top of it.

"Jenna's awake!" I heard Nudge's voice call out.

"Jenna?" Max shrieked.

"Yes?" I responded. I couldn't see anyone of make out where anyone was.

"Jenna, I am so sorry about this." Max replied. She sounded remorseful.

"Where exactly are we?" I replied.

"The school." She said quietly. Oh… The mad science lab…

"Oh…" I breathed.

"Yeah." She whispered.

"When did they do this to my leg?" I asked.

"You got back from surgery about two or three hours ago." Iggy said gravely.

"What did they do to me?" I said quietly.

"The stitched up your gash and repositioned the bones in your leg. They said they weren't going to…" Angel began but then stopped. "Alter…" She gagged at the word. "You until they know what you're already capable of." How did Angel, the little ten year-old, know all of that? Oh, yeah. Ella told me that she could read minds. She must have read the doctor's mind or something.

"Oh…" I replied. I looked around for my backpack. I was it just chilling on a table across the room. My leg was throbbing. This hurt almost as much as getting a scar. Almost. I leaned my head against the bars on my cage. Everyone was talking quietly around me. I wasn't paying attention to what they were doing.

A little while later, a door flew open. I heard footsteps coming closer to us. I looked up and saw four doctors and a few Eraser things behind them.

"Welcome back." A doctor with a heavy German accent spoke up.

"Borchy! How nice to see you again!" Max exclaimed sarcastically.

"Maximum Ride." He replied in a tired tone. "How nice."

"Dr. ter Borcht needs to ask each of you a few questions." A female doctor beside him said.

"Good luck." Max chuckled.

"You will answer the questions." Ter Borcht replied. His tone was filled with acid.

"Will we now?" Max replied in the same tone. It was clear these two knew each other and didn't like each other…

"Yes." He replied. They began ripping everyone out of their dog crates and out of the room. I was terrified, not that I showed it though. The Erasers got to my cage and opened it. He grabbed me by my good leg and pulled me out. I didn't fight. I was trying to act like a scared human. I was thrown into a chair next to Fang in some different room. Ter Borcht began drilling the flock with questions. Then he got to me. "Your name is Jenna Parker, correct?" He asked.

"Yeah." I replied quietly.

"And you're one-hundred percent human?" He asked.

"Y-yeah." I lied.

"We know you broke your leg falling, but how did you get that large wound?" I asked.

"A flaming piece of wood fell on me." I replied.

"How?"

"I'm not very coordinated." I replied.

"Very good." He said and walked away. Fang squeezed my hand reassuringly from beside me. I flashed a sheepish smile and looked away. I just wanted to go home and go to bed. Or at least back to my dog crate and just be alone for a little while. I wanted to have pajama pants on instead of the scratchy pants that I had on. Maybe this was a good thing… I mean, maybe this place could mask my scent or something so I'd be at least safe from Mogadorians. Yeah… That could work… Maybe the glass really was half full after all…

Within the next two weeks, my leg was almost all the way healed. This baffled the doctors. They had thought an injury of that magnitude should have taken over six weeks to heal as much as it did. I blamed it on the fact that I eat fruits and vegetables and take vitamins… They, however, were skeptical. My cast had been removed after the first week and not a day after, I was walking again. With a limp of course, but I was walking. Now I only had a slight limp and it was relatively painless when I took a step. No Mogs had stormed the place either, so that was a plus. Right now, I was leaning my head against the side of my dog crate and listening to Max and Angel arguing about an escape plan. Angel was quite the devious little one… They heard a door open and instantly shut up. Erasers came in and pulled us all out of our crates. We were dragged out to a grassy field behind the school. I watched all of my friends kick the snot out of like twenty Erasers. It was funny in some ways. Then the doctors turned to me.

"You're well enough to fight too." One of them hissed with a menacing smile. My eye widened. After everyone else was done fighting, the doctors told and Eraser to fight me.

"Are you insane? Ari will kill her!" Max screamed. Oh, so the Eraser that was going to fight me was named Ari.

"Maybe so." The doctors laughed. Then the one called Ari grabbed me and threw me on the field.

"This'll be easy." He hissed and then he charged at me. I moved to the side so he just ran right past me. My plan was to just evade him. Truth is, I probably could take Ari down. But I was trying to lay low… So this worked.

Ari recovered and ran at me again. He threw a punch that missed miserably. I kept moving. The entire fight was basically him throwing punches and kicks and I dodged every single one of them. Ari was getting pissed off. His eyes literally screamed that he wanted me dead.

"Fight back!" He screamed at me.

"Dodging is easier! I replied. Just then, Ari threw a punch that I had not seen coming. His fist slammed into my mouth. I staggered backward. I touched the corner of my mouth.

He had drawn blood.

Now it was on. My gaze turned deadly and I looked back to him. His threatening smile faded as our eyes met.

"Come at me." I hissed. The tone of my voice scared even me. He took a step back and then regrouped and ran at me. He reached me and threw a punch. I grabbed his fist and twisted his arm around so now his back was to me. I jammed my foot into the back of his knee. His leg crumpled and he crashed to the ground. I slammed my foot down on his back and began pulling on his arm. He was screaming in pain. I could feel his arm about to pop when a different Eraser tackled me to the ground. He was on top of me. I shoved him off of me and jumped up. I slammed my fist into the side of his head and he crumpled to the ground unconscious. I turned my attention back to Ari. He was slowly getting off the ground. I darted over to him and slammed my body into his. He fell back down.

"This'll be easy, huh?" I taunted and began punching and kicking his sorry self. Other Erasers rushed us trying to get me away from Ari. They all ended up on the ground.

~Meanwhile, on the sidelines~

"Man, Jenna's out of control..." Fang muttered as he watched me punch the lights out of anyone that came near me.

"Yeah…" Max breathed. Her eyes were wide.

"What's she doing?" Iggy asked from beside Max.

"She basically just took fifteen Erasers down all by herself. She keeps targeting Ari." Max told him.

"What do you mean?" Iggy snapped.

"I mean, she keeps going for Ari but when someone crosses her path she knocks them out and then goes for Ari again." Max replied.

"H-how? She's a normal sixteen year-old girl…" Iggy whispered.

"I don't know." Max whispered.

"She needs to stop." Fang replied. "Not that I want her to, but she's going to regret this later. Jenna's a sweetheart when it comes to this kind of stuff."

"What can we do?" Iggy asked.

"Iggy, call to her or something." Angel replied.

"What?" He replied turning his attention to Angel.

"You love her, you save her." Angel replied not looking at him.

"What? How do you know I-…" He stopped. "Even if I do, what makes you think it'll make her stop? Love is a two way street!" Iggy screamed.

"Like you all know, I can't always read Jenna's mind." Angel began. "But when I can, she's only thinking about you. Iggy, Jenna loves you." Iggy's eyes widened.

"I never thought Jenna would…" Iggy began and then stopped. "Okay, I know what to do." He finished.

~On the battlefield~

I slammed another Eraser's head against the ground. I whipped around and shoved my fist into a different Eraser's stomach with all my force. He crumpled to the ground instantly. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I twisted around to deliver a blow to whoever this foolish Eraser was. What I saw stopped me in my tracks instantly.

Iggy.

My eyes widened. I stared into Iggy's sightless eyes. My glare slowly made it's way down to my hands. They were covered in blood; and it wasn't mine.

"Oh my God…" I breathed. My voice was shaky. I had lost control… I sank to the ground. Sobs began ripping through my chest.

"Jenna?" Iggy whispered. He dropped down beside me and pulled me against him. He slowly rubbed my back. One thing's for sure: I could never lose control like this ever again. Marianne was dead so I was alone in this. She was no longer around to bail me out of stuff like this.

Pretty soon, after the doctors were sure I wasn't going to lose control again and rip Iggy apart, the flock and I were dragged back to our dog crates. I was so ashamed of myself… I was shoved through the opening of my crate. I didn't put up a fight; I just let it happen. I curled up into a ball in my crate. I began to sob again, but this time quietly so no one else would know I was crying. A few minutes later, I was asleep. When I woke up, I was going to have to give some answers as to how I can do what I did.

This means I'll have to yet again make up a story about who I was. Here goes nothing.

* * *

***Please review! :3***


	6. Chapter 6

Two weeks sped by before I knew it. What I had done on the battlefield was almost forgotten by all but me. My story was that I had the strength to do all that off a combination of anger issues plus an adrenaline rush. It was believed.

The door opened. I looked up inside my crate. Several Asian doctors came in along with that ter Borcht guy with two or three other doctors. They were all speaking Japanese, which by the way, I knew. They were talking about selling the flock. Wait… SELLING THE FLOCK? I sat up in my crate.

"Guys, shut up." I whispered to the flock around me. I was listening and decoding the Japanese. The Japanese guys were looking to buy my friends is what it sounded like. And then one of the Asian guys said something in Japanese that ter Borcht didn't know. He looked puzzled and like he didn't understand. I snickered. He and his subordinates kept asking asking him to repeat. After the third or forth time, I decided to interject.

"Oh, for God's sake, he said I'm very interested in purchasing the offered subjects!" I snapped. Every head in the room snapped in my direction.

"How did you know that, Parker?" ter Borcht hissed.

"I-I lived in Japan for a year…" I replied. Hey, I finally said something that was true for once!

"Really?" I heard Max say from her crate.

"Yeah. You guys didn't think Canada was the only country I lived in before the states, did you?" I replied.

"We were under that impression." I heard Fang say.

"Enough!" Borchty screamed. "Let's go talk about this elsewhere." He told the other doctors in Japanese.

"You sure you don't need me as a translator?" I called after them in Japanese. Borchty whipped around. His face was as red as a tomato.

"Stop talking." He snapped.

"Stop breathing." I snickered back. The flock chuckled. He turned and stormed out of the room. "I think that went well." I snickered.

"So you lived in Japan?" Iggy asked.

"And China, and Egypt, And France, and many other places. My mom works a lot." I replied.

"Nice." I heard Max chuckle.

"Oh, yeah. Lots of fun." I said and laid my head against the wall of my crate. I was tired. The doctors have been trying to experiment on me but since I'm not exactly… human… none of them have worked. I let my eyes close and fell asleep soon after.

I woke up to shouting and explosions. My eyelids ripped apart.

"What's going on?" I screamed.

"We don't know. This just started." Max replied. Just then, many doctors and Erasers were dragged into the room and thrown into dog crates themselves. I looked at who was dragging them. Who they were could not have been worse.

Mogadorians.

I buried my face in my dirty sweatshirt to mask the scent of my breathing. I was having a silent panic attack. I heard my friends all trying to find out what was going on. I slid as far back as I could I my crate. As soon as all the doctors and Erasers were locked away, the leader of this pack of Mogadorians stepped forward.

"Hello humans." He smiled flashing his evil, pointed teeth. "We must overtake your facilities for the time being. Once we are done, we will leave. But until then," His smile faded. "Don't try anything stupid." He gestured to his very large alien gun strapped to his chest.

"Aliens…" I heard Nudge whispered.

"Impossible…" Iggy whispered.

"Remember that gun we found?" Max replied.

"Yeah." Fang replied.

"What if they're connected to that?" Max said.

"Yeah." Gazzy spoke up.

A little while later the Mogs were talking about hunting down Number Four. Great.

"That's the same plan we used to get six." The leader almost screamed at another Mog. Number Six? I sprang forward in my cage.

"If you touched one hair on Six's head, I swear I'll-…" I Mogs turned toward me. I had just given myself away… "Go on Google and try to find out who… or what… a number six is…" I finished trying to save myself. The Mogs exchanged glances.

"Get her." The leader said plainly. Shit. Mogs were coming toward my crate. One tore the door off it hinges, grabbed my leg and ripped my flailing body out of the crate. Then, he threw my on the ground in front of the Mog leader. He bent down, picked me up by my neck and lifted me into the air. "Well, hello there young one." He said in a sweet tone. "Why did you make that comment about Number Six? Do you know who that is?"

"No." I snapped, or more like mouthed. I couldn't breathe. He threw me against a walk then was back on top of me in the next second. "Ah!" I screamed from the ground.

"Liar." He hissed.

"Leave Jenna alone!" Nudge screamed. The Mog ignored he and lifted me by my neck again. This time, he held me against the wall.

"I'll give you one more chance to tell me who you are." He said plainly. Then he must have seen my necklace sticking out of my shirt. He looked me in the eyes. "Oh, what do we have here?" He said cocking his head. He ran his fingers along my necklace and went to pull it out of my shirt. I had to act fast. I stuck my hand up and forced him across the room. He hit the wall on the other side of the room. Once my feet were touching the ground, I looked over to a desk in the far corner of the room where my backpack was still sitting from when the flock and I arrived here. I put my hand up and forced my backpack to come to me. When it was at my feet, I ripped it open and pulled out my knife that glowed at my touch and my gun. I opened fire on the Mogs just as they all opened fire on me. I dodge rolled a table that a Mog had flipped earlier today. I popped out from one of the side and shot at a Mog.

It hit him in the chest.

My eyes widened as I watched as he disappeared into a cloud of dust. I regrouped right as I saw a shot coming straight for my head. I disappeared behind the table once more and watched it sail by singeing my hair in the process. That was a little too close for comfort…

"Jenna!" I heard Max scream.

"Who the hell are these guys?" I heard Fang bark. I peeked out around the edge of the table once again. There was another Mog rushing me. I whipped my gun up again and shot at him. The blast exploded against his chest. He as well went up in a cloud of dust. My eyes were wide. This fight was far more intense that I planned it was going to be. I wasn't sure I could handle this. I snapped behind the table once more. Suddenly, four or five Mogs rushed the table, lifted it, and threw it away. It hit the wall with smashing force. Bits of the wall crumbled revealing a large hole that lead outside. The Mogs grabbed me and pinned me to the ground; someone's foot was forced against the side of my face. My hands were restrained behind me. My head was being pinned against the ground. I tried to twist and wiggle my way to freedom, but I couldn't move. This was bad. I heard footsteps approaching. I looked up out of the corner of my eyes and saw the Mog leader standing over my body.

"A gallant effort, but alas in vain." He said as our eyes met. "Kill her." He said turning his back to me. I heard my friends screaming at the Mogs. I watched as one of the Mogadorians restraining me pulled a covered knife out of his dark overcoat. He unsheathed it and held it up. I saw my reflection in its blade. Fear penetrated my thoughts. But then, I remembered the charm placed upon me before the nine of us left Lorien; we can't die out of order. I snickered quietly to myself.

"What's so funny?" My executioner snarled.

"I laugh in the face of death. Especially when that face is as ugly as yours." I replied with a devious smile plastered a crossed my face. The Mog looked shocked and then his look twisted into a look of pure rage.

"I'm going to enjoy this even more now." He hissed.

"You do that." I chuckled.

"Jenna! What are you doing?" Max screamed.

"What does it look like?" I yelled back.

"Being an idiot?" She snapped.

"Exactly!" I replied.

"Shut up!" My executioner snapped.

"Make me!" I yelled.

"Oh, I will." He said flashing an evil, disgusting smile.

"Do it. Right now!" I snapped. The Mog growled. His arm snapped forward.

"Stop, you idiot!" I heard a familiar voice scream. The Mog's arm stopped nanometers from my body. "Any mortal injury you inflict on her will affect you instead! She's not next in line!" The voice continued. My plan had thwarted yet again. I lay there stunned. The voice sounded so familiar… Could it be? I looked up out of the corner of my eyes. As soon as I saw the six-foot figure, I knew who it was.

Marianne.

All of the blood flooded from my face. My heart sank. Marianne? Betraying me? What? I twisted away from the stunned Mogs and flashed behind Marianne before anyone even knew I had moved. My face was twisted into a look of pure horror.

"Jenna, let me explain." Marianne said in her calming voice.

"No. How could you? The elders trusted you! The other protectors trusted you! I trusted you! And now you're just switching sides?" I screamed at her.

"Jenna, Lorien was doomed to begin with. And now this hovel of a planet has the same fate." She replied calmly.

"How can you even say that?" I snapped. My mouth tasted like acid.

"Jenna, calm down. Think about it. There are six of you left and there are hundreds or even thousands of Mogadorians. Do the math, you're very smart." She said. She was still calm.

"Don't care. I took down two Mogs today alone. Who know how many I'll get tomorrow." I replied.

"Jenna, don't be stupid. Let's talk about this alone. There's a hill about a mile that way." She gestured toward the east. "Meet me at the top of it." She finished.

"How do I know this isn't a trap?" I snapped.

"I'm betraying Lorien, not you." She finished. Her eyes were sincere.

"Me, Lorian, same thing. Fine. Let's meet up. You can try to convince me that your idea is good. Don't count on me believing one word you say though." I agreed. Marianne nodded.

"Mogadorians, perhaps we should locate lodging elsewhere." Marianne suggested. The leader nodded and his subjects followed him out the hole in the wall. Before he left, he turned to me.

"When it's your time, we will find you." He hissed and then turned and walked out. Marianne turned to me.

"Ten minutes." Marianne said. I nodded solemnly. She turned her back to me and went too. I sighed and twirled around to let my friends out of their dog crates. My eyes were stone. My hands were shaking; my silent panic attack escalated into a full-blown nervous breakdown. After the flock was let out, I went and shoved all my crap in my backpack. Wordlessly, I slide out through the hole in the wall.

"What about us?" I heard a doctor say.

"Your turn." I yelled with out turning around. I started walking away. Like I predicted, the flock followed me. Max grabbed my arm and spun me around.

"Jenna! What the hell was that? Who the hell were those guys and how did they know your mom and you? And how did you do all that stuff?" Her eyes were like daggers plunging into mu soul.

"Fly away." I muttered.

"What?" Max asked. She was taken back at the tone of my voice.

"Fly away. I have shit to do. I'll meet you in the sky in twenty minutes." I replied.

"How exactly do you plan on doing that?" Max snapped.

"You'll see. Then I'll answer all of your questions. I promise." I said quietly. All of the stinging acid in my voice had receded. The look in my eyes had turned dull and must have made her feel sorry for me. Her face turned soft. She nodded.

"Guys, up and away." She whispered. Her and the flock flew away. I watch as they rose higher and higher. Max looked down at me from the sky. "Twenty minutes!" She yelled. I nodded and turned and took off running to the hill. I was there in less then a minute. Marianne was waiting for me.

"Where're your new friends?" I hissed as I arrived at the peak of the hill.

"Jenna, please. Don't be like this." She replied.

"What'd you expect, me to just pretend that this isn't against everything I've ever worked for?" I snapped. Her thoughts were guarded. She had gotten good at hiding things from me. Damn her.

"Jenna, I love you like the daughter I had that I wish I had the chance to have." She muttered. "I don't want to lose you!"

"You're not making this any easier! I'm not joining the Mogs. The only was your keeping me is of your coming with me. I'd give my life to save the human race. You used to feel the same way. Why else would you be here?" I replied. She didn't say anything for a very long time. She just shook her head at me.

"Then I guess this is good bye for now." She whispered.

"I guess it is." I whispered back. Our eyes locked for a very long time. Regret was clear in her stare. I finally broke our eye contact and backed away. When I was half way down the hill, I lifted myself into the air. I looked down. Marianne was still locked in the same spot watching me levitate away. I squinted to see her clearer. Tears were in her eyes. This hurt her just as much as this hurt me. I ripped my gaze off of her. Now it was time to tell my friends how much of a freak I am. Ugh! I freaking hate my life!

I sped up in the air. I reached the flock before I knew it. I was beside Max in the next second. Her eyes widened when she saw me.

"Can we land?" I asked her. She just nodded. She was too shocked to speak. They all were. We were on the ground a few seconds later. "Hey…" I said awkwardly. They were all just starring at me like, get this: an alien. "So uh, what exactly do you want to know?" I asked.

"How did…?" Max began. Her voice trailed off. Max shook her head. "What were those things at the school?" Max asked.

"Uh… Aliens… F-from the planet Mogadore…" I stuttered. Everyone's eyes widened and their jaws dropped.

"Aliens?" Max asked in a very concerning tone that made me think she thought I was insane. I nodded. "Okay, and you know that how?" She replied in the same tone.

"Well, uh… I, uh… I-I'm not, uh… Exactly what you, uh… y-you call… human… at all…" I stammered. I saw everyone's eyes widen. "Yup. You heard right. I'm an alien. Loric is the correct term for my race." I slide down trunk of a tree and plopped on my butt. Everyone was silent. "Should I just go?" I asked.

"Where exactly would you go?" Nudge asked.

"I'd do what I always do when I get revealed: change my name and move to a different country." I replied. My head was resting against my knees. "I'm a freak, guys. A big, alien freak." I said.

"If you haven't noticed, we're all freaks, Jenna." Max said.

"At least you're of this planet." I replied. I felt someone slide down next to me. I looked up and saw Iggy.

"Hey, relax okay? You're obviously not a bad alien, and that's what really counts." Iggy said as he gently squeezed my hand.

"Yeah." Max agreed.

"You guys actually believe me?" I asked.

"Well, you have proven yourself to be non-human several times…" Fang spoke up.

"Yeah…" I sighed. "You will you guys actually let me stay with you?" I asked. I doubted Max was going to let me.

"Of course, Jenna." Max smiled. Well, look who was wrong.

"Thanks." I involuntarily smiled. I have never actually been accepted anywhere before. Well, except by Marianne; and we all know how that worked out… A little while later, we all took off flying. We flew for like, three hours straight! Then Nudge started complaining.

"I'm huuuungry!" She wined.

"We don't have any food money." Max replied. "We'll have to hunt or something."

"Uh, actually, I have money in my backpack." I said.

"Really?" Max asked.

"Yeah. Lorien provided us with a lot of money when we came here." I replied.

"That's sweet!" Max exclaimed.

"Yeah." I snickered. We landed about an hour later. I bought everyone McD's. Man, these kids eat a lot! Well, so do I… So I can't really say anything…

"Thank you, Jenna!" Everyone said at least once.

"Want to go to a mall or something?" I asked while we were eating. "I have enough money to get new clothes for us. I at least want pants that don't have a rip the size of my hand near my crotch." I finished.

"Sure." Max replied. "But only the stuff we actually need." She stared at Nudge when she said that.

"Hey!" Nudge exclaimed. Everyone snickered. We found a mall after we were done eating. I bought a cheap pleather jacket; I could rock the fake leather look. I also bought another pair of dark gray skinny jeans, much like the blood stained and torn ones I was wearing, and a dark blue V-neck tee shirt. I was ready to go. I waited in the food court with Iggy while the others bought their stuff. Iggy was wearing a new white tee shirt and new black jeans. He was still wearing his sweatshirt from before. We had bought drinks and were at a table together.

"Thanks for buying everything for us." Iggy smiled at me.

"No problem." I smiled back. I was wearing Iggy's old, tattered sweatshirt under my new jacket. I took a sip of my drink and made a face. "Ugh. This lemonade is horrible." I said.

"Can I have a sip?" Iggy asked.

"You sure you want my alien DNA in you?" I joked.

"You sure you want my avian DNA in you?" He replied.

"Fair enough." I snickered and held my cup up to his mouth. He took a sip. His face instantly turned disgusted.

"Yeah. That is disgusting." He agreed.

"Isn't it?" I replied. "I would throw it away if I hadn't paid money for it." I said and took another sip.

"You don't have to drink it." Iggy snickered.

"Screw it. What doesn't kill me makes me stronger, stand a little taller! Yolo." I joked. Iggy laughed. "But in real life, I don't say Yolo." I said as an afterthought.

"You're weird." Iggy joked.

"I know!" I smiled and took another sip of my grotesque lemonade.

"Give me another sip!" Iggy said after a few minutes.

"Why?" I snickered.

"It's addicting!" He replied.

"Isn't it?" I giggled as handing him my cup.

"It is!" He replied and took a sip. Pretty soon, my lemonade was gone. There was still no sign of the others.

"Where do think they are?" I asked Iggy.

"Probably ripping Nudge away from Victoria's Secret or something." He chuckled.

"Really?" I snickered.

"Yeah. She likes that store. It's weird." He replied.

"Eww…" I made a face again.

"Exactly." He snickered. I sighed and put my head down on the table. "What?" Iggy asked me.

"I'm tired." I wined.

"I bet you are." He replied and touched the side of my arm sympathetically. "We'll probably stop somewhere for the night a little later." He said. I sat up. Marianne suddenly appeared in my head. How could she just join the Mogadorians? I didn't understand. Somehow, Iggy must have known what I was thinking. "Hey, sorry about your mom…" He said softly and squeezed my hand.

"She wasn't my mom." I replied quietly. "She was my protector; assigned to keep my alive before we left Lorien." I told him. I looked up at Iggy's face. His expression was blank.

"Oh…" He whispered.

"Yeah." I replied. Iggy scooted his chair closer to me. I was engulfed in a hug when he reached me.

"Things will get better. They always do." He said into my hair.

"Thanks." I replied into his chest and I clung to him. He released me a few seconds later. I didn't want him too. I wanted to just attach myself to him all day. But I let him go and sat up in my chair. I heard footsteps approaching. The others were around our table a few seconds later.

"Ready to go?" Max asked us.

"Sure." Iggy replied as I nodded. Iggy and I got up. We all took off outside and into the air. The cold night air ripped through my clothes. I was freezing within the next few minutes. I ignored it though. I wanted to just stop and fall asleep somewhere. I could manage like this though. I just hope that tomorrow would be a better day then today was.

Then again… It really couldn't really be worse…

* * *

***Tell me watchu think please! :3***


	7. Chapter 7

The fire roared in front of my eyes as I rested my head against my backpack. The flock and I were spread out around the fire that Fang had made. We had stopped for the night. Iggy sat beside me leaning against the base of a tree fumbling through his own backpack. The darkness of night shrouded our surroundings making the area around us practically invisible. I glanced over to Fang and Max. They were cuddling in the firelight. To be honest, it was really cute. It kind of made me a little bit jealous, but not really anything worth mentioning. I was on a mission to save the planet, not fall in love.

"Jenna," Iggy whispered interrupting my thoughts. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah." I whispered back. I lifted my head off my makeshift pillow to look at his face.

"Want to walk around for a few minutes? I feel like moving." He said tilting his head down so his eyes were on me.

"Sure." I mumbled. I didn't feel like sleeping anyway.

"Max, Jenna and I are going for a walk." Iggy said to Max. She nodded against Fang's chest.

"Can I come?" Gazzy said in a voice that made it sound as if he had been sleeping a minute ago.

"Gazzy, go to sleep." Max told him in the same voice.

"Okay." He replied weakly. Iggy got on his feet silently and then helped me to my feet. He held my hand as we trudged away from our campsite.

"Where're we going?" I asked as he expertly navigated us through the darkness.

"Straight." He snickered

"No, really?" I joked in an astonished voice. "I had no idea. But really, where're we going?"

"Would you just trust me?" He snickered.

"Fine!" I sighed pretending to be annoyed.

"The flock and I have been through here before. There's a lake right around here somewhere." He explained.

"Really?" I replied.

"Yeah. That's why it's so cold out here." He continued.

"Oh!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah." He snickered. "It's right over here." He said after a few minutes. The moon reflected off the surface of the water. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

"Wow." I breathed.

"Yeah, I know. Quite the sight, huh?" He replied quietly.

"Yeah." I breathed.

"I've seen it through Angel's mind. She can read minds of you already didn't know." He said.

"Yeah, I knew that. Ella told me." I replied.

"Ella told you?" He sounded surprised.

"Yeah. She found out about me a couple days before everything started happening." I told him.

"How?" He asked.

"Five or six guys jumped us. I took them down right in front of her eyes." I admitted shyly.

"That's pretty sweet." He snickered.

"Glad I amuse you." I giggled. We sat down by the water. I took off my shoes and dipped my feet in the water. It was surprisingly warm. "Want to see something cool?" I asked after a few minutes on kicking my feet in the water.

"Sure." Iggy replied. I transferred a mental image of the lake from my mind into Iggy's. I decided to reveal a part of myself to him. He gasped. "You…" He said astonished.

"Yeah. I can read minds too." I said reading in his mind what he was trying to say out loud. I expected him to be mad or something, like upset that I could have been butting into his personal space or something. But to my happy surprise, he smiled at me.

"You are truly unpredictable." He said with a look that made my cheeks flush and my heart race.

"Thank you." I replied in an insecure tone. He looked back to the water. I continued projecting images of the water through my eyes and into Iggy's. He had a look on his face that made me not want this time together to end. Iggy turned to me again. I projected an image if my face to Iggy so it was it was like he was actually looking at me.

"So that's what you look like." Iggy snickered.

"Sorry. My hair's kind of windblown." I giggled and ran my fingers through my hair.

"I think it's perfect." He replied. My heart was racing. My whole body was trembling. I was too afraid to speak for fear of my voice cracking and revealing how nervous I truly was. So, I could deal with an entire squad of Mogadorians, but when it came to being alone with a human that I might kind of possibly maybe have feelings for, I panic. A lot. I just continued kicking my feet under the water. In some ways, it was calming me down. I felt Iggy's feet brush against mine under the water. My gaze made its way back to Iggy's face. His gaze was still locked on me. The look in his pale blue eyes made my breath hitch. I felt his hand slowly slide on top of mine. Then, he leaned in and I felt his warm lips on mine. I felt my eyes close. One of his hands moved to the back of my neck while the other one slide down my back. This was officially the best moment of my entire life. But then, I realized what we were doing. My eyelids ripped apart. I tore my mouth away from Iggy's.

"No. This can't happen. I can't fall in love!" I exclaimed and jumped to my feet.

"Jenna?" Iggy replied getting up. I flashed over to a tree and slammed my fist against it. The trunk snapped in two on contact with a piercing snap. The top part collided with the ground with a loud crash leaving the jagged, broken bottom attached to the Earth. My body was shaking. "Hey!" Iggy said grabbing my hand from behind me. "Jenna? What's wrong?" He exclaimed. He spun me around to face him. I was doing what I did when I was trying to calm down: bite down hard the knuckle of my right index finger. The pain made me snap to my senses; which is what I needed to do right now.

"On my planet, people can only fall in love once." I said, as I tasted blood on my tongue from my knuckle. "If I fall in love to early, it could be the biggest mistake of my life." I finished dropping my hand from my face and to my side.

"Jenna, I would never do anything to hurt you…" He replied quietly.

"You say that now. But in three years when someone hotter than me struts her way into your life wearing little, tiny, tight booty shorts, what's going to happen?" I snapped with my eyes closed and pinching the spot on my forehead where you pinch when you're trying to make a headache go away.

"Jenna…" He said and I felt his fingers brush against my cheek. I opened my eyes to see his concerned eyes locked on me. "First off, if someone walked into my life with little, tiny, tight booty shorts on, I wouldn't see them coming. Second, I'd bet a lot of money that there is no one hotter than you on this planet. Third, I'm eighteen and no one has made me feel the way I feel for you. Jenna, when I saw you in my head, I was so surprised. You were so much prettier than I ever could have imagined you could be."

"Really?" I smiled and touched his hand that was resting on my face.

"Yeah." He whispered. He was looking at me with sightless eyes that were filled with so much love it made tears well in my eyes.

"I'm just so confused with things lately…" I replied looking away.

"I know, and that's fine. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do." He smiled.

"Thank you." I said so quietly. I wrapped my arms around his neck. He wrapped one arm around my waist and put his other hand on my head. He held me gently against him and rested his chin on top of my chin. We broke apart about a minute later. He rested his forehead against mine.

"Let's head back." He whispered. I nodded slowly and then we went slowly back to the water and put our shoes back on. Then we began to solemnly make our way back to out campsite. We almost smashed into Max and Fang in the darkness.

"What was that really loud crash?" Max questioned.

"Yeah, we were wondering that too." Iggy lied. "That's why we were here."

"Did you find anything?" She asked.

"Nope." Iggy replied popping the P in nope.

"Weird." Max raised an eyebrow.

"That's what thought." Iggy replied.

"Let's go back." Fang said turning and leading our parade back to the camp. When we arrived, I laid back down in the same spot as before and rested my head back on my backpack.

"Good night, Jenna." Iggy whispered.

"Nighy night." I replied quietly and the shut my eyes. And then a thought popped into my head. "Oh, wait." I whispered.

"What?" Iggy replied.

"I forgot to burn my crap with blood on it." I told him and began digging through my backpack. I pulled out all of my old clothes that were caked with my blood and threw them into the campfire.

"Why not just throw them away?" Iggy asked.

"If the Mogs smell my blood they can track my scent." I explained.

"Oh." He replied. I zipped up my backpack and rested my head back on it.

"Night for real this time." I said.

"Night Jenna." Iggy smiled. Then my eyes shut and was asleep not two minutes later.

Before I knew it, it was morning. It seriously felt like I had blink and now it's light out. But wait, I was laying on something warm… We're in the woods… What could I possibly be lying on? I opened my eyes to see myself half way on top of Iggy. I must have moved in my sleep or something… I took my head off his chest and looked up at his face. Fun fact: he was awake. Crap.

"Uh, sorry. I must have moved in my sleep…" I apologized like an idiot.

"It's fine." He snickered. "I don't mind. You can stay if you want. I guess I don't know, but I'd think I'm more comfortable than the ground." He added.

"You are." I mumbled and put my head back down and closed my eyes again.

"Go back to sleep." He whispered.

"Okay." I muttered already more then half asleep. I must have fallen asleep because I felt a hand gently shaking me. "Hmmmm…" I muttered.

"Come on, wake up." I heard a voice. I opened my eyes to see Iggy was the one waking me up. I sat up, rubbed my eyes, and stretched out my arms and legs. "Good morning sunshine." Iggy snickered.

"Hi." I yawned. I was not a morning person… "Where'd everyone go?" I asked looking around.

"To find food. I've been trying to get you up for like a half an hour now." He snickered.

"Sorry. I suck at waking up." I replied.

"I noticed." He chuckled. The flock came back a few minutes later with food. Then we were all eating and such.

"So… You two got all cozy last night." Max teased.

"Shut up!" Iggy snapped. His face turned beet red. I snickered.

"Hey, there's no shame in cuddling." Max winked.

"Shut up!" Iggy snapped again.

"So we went to the lake. There was a tree completely snapped in half. Did you two see anything while you were checking it out?" Fang asked.

"No…" Iggy and I both said. I shoved my punchin' hand into my pocket because one of my knuckles was scratched up.

"What happened?" Max raised an eyebrow. I looked at Iggy.

"We don't know. It was like that when we got there." Iggy lied.

"Iggy kissed Jenna." Angel said. She must have read Iggy's mind. Everyone gasped.

"Thank you, Angel." Iggy snapped. Angel smiled at Iggy.

"Awww." Max teased.

"That's so sweet." Nudge squealed. Fang just smirked. Gazzy's mouth was wide open with shock. I just starred at the ground. This was kind of embarrassing. I mean, we kissed and stuff… and I liked it… But I wasn't on this planet to kiss boys; I was here to stop Mogadorians.

"Can we just go, please?" Iggy snapped.

"Fine." Max replied. "But you two shouldn't be embarrassed. You two are cute." She added.

A few minutes later we were in the air. I was so relieved. Being airborne lifted the awkward blanket that was thrown upon Iggy and I at the campsite. I was silent. My arms were crossed against my chest. I was trying to stop the cold air from ripping through my clothes yet again. I began thinking about who and where the other numbers were. I had an idea who Six was. But it had been years since we bumped into each other. I saw that video of Four; but other then those two, I was flying blind. I looked up. The sun blinded me. So I was literally flying blind at the moment. Ugh! This was all so stressful! Oh, yeah! I forgot mention the countless Erasers and Mogs after us. AND I couldn't get Iggy out of my head. This was great, really, really great.

I pulled my backpack in front of me and dug out my sunglasses. They were the reflective aviators. Why you ask? Because they're cool, that's why. I put them on my face and went back to thinking. The flock was talking around me. Apparently they said something to me because everyone turned to me.

"Wait, what?" I asked.

"I said, are you okay?" Max replied. "You haven't said a word since we took off."

"Yeah. I'm just thinking about stuff." I said.

"Want to talk about it?" She asked.

"Eh, not really. It's stuff about finding the others like me." I replied sheepishly.

"There're others like you?" Fang asked.

"Yeah. Five others." I told him. "There were nine of us, but the first three are dead." I added.

"Can I ask a question?" Max asked.

"Sure." I looked at her.

"When that… M-Mogadorian? Right?" She began. I nodded. "When that Mogadorian was about to kill you, why the hell were you taunting him and making him mad?"

"Oh, that." I snickered. "Well, you see, before the nine of us left Lorien, this elder guy placed a charm on us. We can't die out of order. If that Mog would've stabbed me, he would've died in my place." I explained.

"What number are you?" Nudge asked.

"Nine. I am the youngest of my kind." I replied solemnly.

"You're the youngest of your kind ever?" Angel asked. That was the first thing she has directly asked me ever.

"Yeah." I replied.

"Wow. I hate being the youngest of the flock let alone of my entire species." She said quietly.

"Well, I do have an older sister." I replied.

"You do?" Max asked.

"Yeah. Number Six is my full biological sister. She's like two or three-ish years older than me." I told them.

"That's good." Max said.

"Yeah." I smirked. It was silent after that for a while. I think everyone had just realized how messed up my life truly was.

We flew for a few more hours and then stopped and rested for a while. It was about five-ish. We'd probably fly until like ten-ish after this break. I had no clue where we were going. I just followed along and didn't ask questions. I was sitting against the base of a tree digging through my backpack. I had to see my knife. I hadn't seen it in a while. I found it in my bag. I wrapped my fingers around the handle. It lit up my bag and my face with its familiar blue glow.

"Whoa, Jenna! What do you have in there?" Gazzy exclaimed.

"A knife that glows." I snickered.

"Really?" Gazzy breathed.

"Yeah." I smiled. I pulled the sheathed knife out of my backpack.

"Can I see it?" He asked.

"Ask Max." I replied. Gazzy looked at Max with pleading eyes. She nodded and chuckled. They were all looking at my knife. I held it out to Gazzy. He happily took it and his enthusiastic eyes turned disappointed when the glow went out after it left my touch.

"Why did it go out?" He asked sounding disappointed.

"Sorry. Only Lorien natives can make it glow." I explained.

"Oh." He said sadly. He handed back to me.

"Sorry." I replied as I took it from him. The blue glow returned as soon as one of my fingers grazed the handle. I unsheathed it and looked at my reflection in the blade. I noticed that my chocolate brown hair was still chocolate brown. It didn't look like it was even starting to fade yet. What kind of hair dye did Marianne buy? I sheathed my knife and dropped it back into my backpack. My eyes happen to cross the weird metal box that I had grabbed off of Marianne's desk in the fire. I pulled it out of my backpack and fumbled it around in my hands. How the hell do you open this stupid thing!? I gave up and threw it back in my backpack. I zipped it back up and looked over at Iggy. He was sitting next to Nudge pretending to listen to something she was freaking out about. He looked nervous. I snickered quietly to myself.

Like twenty minutes or something later we got ready to take off. I got to my feet and shoved my arms through the straps on my backpack. I put my sunglasses back on my face and followed Iggy into the air. I watched him flap his wings. The way all of them flew fascinated me; I couldn't pull my eyes away. I watched him for like an hour. Then I forced my eyes away because he slowed and flew by my side.

"Hey." He smiled at me. My heart fluttered a little bit.

"Hey." I replied.

"How are you?" He asked.

"Pretty okay I'd say." I smiled.

"Good." He snickered. "So while we were resting, Nudge was lecturing me about how I should totally make a move on you." Iggy chuckled.

"Really?" I giggled.

"Yeah. She's going to meddle."

"Is she?"

"Yeah." He snickered.

"Want me to project images to you again? I need something to focus on so I don't start thinking about my life again." I said.

"Sure." Iggy smiled. "Thanks."

"Anytime." I smiled and focused on the sky in front me and projected it to Iggy's mind. This was helping me train my legacies and it gave me something so my mind wouldn't wander. It was a win, win situation! I was doing this almost the entire time we were flying. I could tell it made Iggy happy. This is going to sound cheesy, but I liked seeing him happy… I smiled to myself and starred straight ahead for a very long time.

Before I knew it, night had fallen. It had to be at least nine or maybe even later.

"Guys, we're landing. It's getting hard to see." Max called from the front. After a chorus of yeahs and okays, we began our descent. My feet touched the surface of the Earth for the first time in a few hours. My legs felt like jell-o. I stumbled forward and face planted against Iggy's chest.

"Well if you wanted a hug that badly you could've just asked." Iggy snickered.

"Sorry." I giggled. "My legs are numb." I smiled.

"I got your back." He smiled and helped me stand back upright and held my arm so I wouldn't stumble again. I leaned up against him, not because I needed too… I just wanted too.

"I'll build a fire. Gaz, help." Fang said.

"Okay!" Gazzy's cheery voice exclaimed. He and Fang built us all a fire. I propped myself against the base of a tree and waited as Iggy plopped himself down beside me. I turned and rested my legs across Iggy's lap.

"Am I your leg rest?" Iggy chuckled.

"Yes." I replied resting my head against the trunk of the tree.

"Tired?"

"Mhm." I smiled.

"You want to lay on me again?" He snickered.

"Yes!" I exclaimed and moved my head away from the tree and onto his shoulder. "You're so much more comfortable than the tree." I moaned into his neck.

"Good." He replied. I felt his chin resting on the top of my head. I felt his breathing on my hair. I was so comfortable here…

This felt so right…

It was an hour later. Iggy and I were the only two awake. He was laying down resting his head on my backpack with my head resting on his chest. Our fingers were intertwined; we were playing with each other's hands.

"So what was your name in England?" He asked me.

"Stevie Witherspoon." I replied.

"Fancy." He snickered.

"I know right?" I smiled.

"What was your name in France?" He asked.

"Geneviève Leduc." I replied.

"How French." Iggy snickered.

"Well, of course." I giggled.

"What was the first country you lived in?"

"Greece. Athens, Greece." I told him.

"Whoa. You lived in Athens?" He breathed.

"For the first two years of my life on Earth." I smiled.

"How old were you when you left… uh… whatever your planet is called…" He sounded embarrassed that he didn't know my planet's name.

"Lorien, and I was a eight days old when we left." I replied.

"Awww. You were a baby." He mocked.

"Ahem, I was a cute baby." I yawned turning my head on his chest to look at his face.

"I bet you were." He smiled. His smile made my heart speed up. I looked away and readjusted my head so I was more comfortable. "Get some sleep. We're probably getting up really early again tomorrow." Iggy said as I settled my head against him.

"Okay." I yawned again. "Night night." I smiled and closed my eyes.

"Night Jenna." He replied. I felt him kiss the back of my head. I smiled and snuggled closer to him and fell asleep within the next few seconds.

~Mogadorian P.O.V.~

Why are we even out here? It's cold, I highly doubt any of them are out here, and I am tired. I feel like weak, feeble human. Why does our captain always assign me scouting duty? I do not understand. Wait… What is that I smell? Is that a fire? It is probably just another group of camping humans. May as well have some fun while I am stuck out here… I crept my way to the campsite slowly so I would alert the humans of my arrival before I scared them. Wait… As I approach the camp another smell that was masked by the fire before hits my nose… It is the aroma of that number that almost got my killed the other day at that building in Death Valley… I peaked my head around the trunk of a large oak tree and there she was right in front of my eyes sleeping on the chest of a winged human… This planet just keeps getting weirder and weirder… I slithered my way noiselessly through the sleeping humans and over to the alien. How was I going to do this? I couldn't just wake her up and drag her away… Her friends surrounded her… They would surely awaken and help her take me down… I have an idea! I reached into my black overcoat and pulled out my knife. I knelt down beside her and the human and put my arm around the human's shoulders without touching him. I reached over and silently unsheathed the knife and moved it closer to the human's neck. Then, I reached out with my other hand and clamped it down hard over the alien's mouth.

~Jenna P.O.V.~

My eyelids ripped apart and I felt something cold and clammy clamp own hard against my lips. My eyes widened in fear as I was starring into the ugly face of the Mogadorian that almost killed himself through me at the school a few days ago.

"If you want your human to live you will get up slowly and come with me quietly." He hissed quietly. I looked over and saw the fire's reflection in the long, jagged blade almost touching Iggy's throat. I eyes grew even larger. I nodded once slowly and the Mog released me but kept the knife on Iggy. I solemnly rose to my feet and the Mog followed my lead. Him and I began walking slowly away.

"Jenna? Where're you goin'?" I heard Gazzy's groggy, weak voice mumble from across the fire.

"You're dreaming, Gaz. Lay back down." I whispered and allowed a fake smile to expand through my petrified lips.

"Oka-" He began to say before he fell back asleep as soon as head touched the ground.

"Let's go." The Mog hissed and grabbed my shoulder and dragged me behind him. My smile instantly faded as I was being towed behind the Mog, knife in hand.

"Where're you taking me?" I growled after what felt like an eternity of walking.

"Shut up." He snapped and slammed the butt of the handle of his knife into the side of my skull with brutal force. I think it's fair to say that I dropped like a sack of boulders hurled over the side of a cliff.

I awoke sometime later to the feeling of cool metal touching my wrist. I was chained to something. Great. I lifted my head off of the hard, concrete floor. My back has never been so stiff in my life!

"Good morning, sunshine." I heard a familiar raspy voice say. I whipped my head around to see the face that I had pummeled a few weeks ago attached to the other end of the chain.

It was… Ari…

* * *

**Please review ya'll! I really need the input! **


	8. Chapter 8

My eyes widened, my breath caught. Ari. The Ari. The one that caused me to lose control all those weeks ago…

"You going to say anything or just stare at me all day?" He snapped after my staring reached the five-minute mark. I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head.

"Sorry." I breathed as I reopened my eyes. I looked around the room. "Where exactly are we?" I asked.

"No clue. Your buddies nabbed me and I woke up a few hours ago chained to you." He replied.

"They are not my buddies!" I snapped.

"They seemed pretty into you at the school." He snapped right back.

"They tried to kill me!" I screamed.

"Like you did me?" He yelled. My face flushed in embarrassment.

"Look, I'm sorry about that. I lost control of myself." I said quietly.

"Yeah, right. You hang around with the flock. I doubt you're really sorry." He shot at me. I looked away. I slid my way up against a wall. I was tired or supporting my own weight. The chain connecting Ari and I clanked across the floor as it dragged. I didn't know what to say to Ari. What I did to him still haunted me, even if he was my enemy. "So how're we getting out of here?" Ari asked after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence.

"I don't know. This place was probably designed to keep people like me in." I replied.

"People like you?" He looked at me.

"Yeah. I'm not what you call normal." I replied.

"I've noticed." He snickered. I glanced at him and then smiled for some reason. I looked away and picked up our chain. Just as I thought: it was made on Mogadore using their metals that were manufactured to keep aliens like myself in check. Maybe my knife or my gun could be of service in this situation. I reached for my backpack and felt my reaching hand hit my back. I patted around for it, and then it hit me… My backpack with all my shit in it is back at the campsite… Crap… I was weaponless and probably surrounded by Mogadorians… With someone that was partly human… I had to protect him…

Great.

I let my hand drop and sighed. I let my head tip back and rest against the wall. It really hurt when my head made contact with the wall, probably from when the Mog knocked me unconscious.

"What?" Ari looked at me.

"Nothing." I said all grumpy like.

"Tell me." He pried.

"Why do you care?" I looked at him out of the corner of my eye.

"It looks like we're going to be stuck together for a while. The last thing I want to deal with every minute of everyday is a pouty, grumpy girl." He replied.

"How chivalrous." I said sarcastically and closed my eyes.

"Jenna, tell me what's wrong." He kept on prying.

"Fine. I don't have any of my weapons, or any of my other crap to break out of here with." I sighed and opened my eyes.

"I have this." He replied and pulled a handgun out of the pocket jacket.

"Your Earth toys will hardly affect the Mogs. You'll need a lot of bullets to even wound one of them." I replied.

"Mogs? What's a Mog?" He asked.

"The things holding us hostage. They're not human, they're aliens." I replied quietly.

"You expect me to believe that aliens walk among us?" He laughed. "You're insane." He mocked.

"How do you think a sixteen year-old girl could possibly take you down like I did?" I looked at him. His jaw dropped.

"You're one of them?" He whispered.

"No! I am nothing like them! I don't want to destroy Earth like they want too! I'm here to stop them! Not add to their destruction!" I screamed.

"Hey, calm down! I never said you were anything like them!" He replied putting his hands up and signaling me to relax.

"Sorry. I just don't like getting compared to them. We might all be aliens, but the Mogs and my species could not be anymore different." I told him looking to the ground in shame.

"Hey, Jenna. Relax okay? I don't think you're bad. I really don't." His expression turned soft.

"Thanks Ari." I smiled at him.

"Anyti-" He began to say but was interrupted by the big, metal door squeaking open to reveal Marianne and two other Mogs standing before us.

"Jenna." Marianne said looking at me.

"Marianne." I replied glaring at her. I crossed my arms across my chest towing Ari's arm along with mine. What could they possibly do to me? I'm dying to know.

~Iggy P.O.V.~

Seeing Jenna's face in my mind, I slowly leaned down and kissed her gently. My lips on hers, her lips on mine… What I could've only dreamed of since I fell in love with her. Everything was finally perfect… Until she pulled away…

I awoke from my reoccurring dream smiling. The kiss that Jenna and I shared was perfect. Jenna was perfect. Wait… Something was wrong… There was no weight on my chest, no warmth… I felt for Jenna on my chest. She wasn't there… I felt to my sides to see if she had rolled off of me or something but there was no signs of her there either… Where had she gone?

"Max!" I exclaimed in a panic. "Max, wake up!"

~Max P.O.V.~

"Max! Max, wake up!" I heard Iggy's panicked voice cry out.

"There better be a good reason why you woke me up." I replied into Fang's chest.

"Jenna's gone!" He exclaimed.

"What?" I breathed. My eyes flew open and I whipped up off of Fang's chest. Sure enough, Jenna was nowhere to be seen. It was bright outside. I scanned the area for any signs of her. Nothing. "Everyone, wake up! Jenna's gone!" I screamed.

"What?" Nudge asked sitting up.

"Does anyone know where she went? She didn't just go to pee or something?" I asked everyone.

"I woke up during the night and saw her and some tall, alien looking guy." Gazzy said in a tired voice.

"And?" I pried.

"She said I was dreaming and to lay back down." He replied solemnly.

"Something tells me you weren't dreaming, Gaz." Fang said from beside me.

"Look for signs of which way she went." I said rising to my feet. Fang was right behind me. "Angel, stay with Iggy. He's freaking out." I whispered to Angel. She nodded and went over to Iggy and sat with him. Fang, Gaz, Nudge, and I went off in search of signs of Jenna. "Fang, Gazzy, go look that way. Nudge and I will go this way." Everyone nodded and we split up.

"Wow… Poor Iggy…" Nudge said after a few minutes of walking.

"Hm?" I asked.

"Well, the girl he loves, who turned out to be an alien, just disappears from right in front of him." She replied.

"Yeah… Poor guy…" I agreed.

"Do you think she could've gotten taken by those Mogadorian things she was talking about?"

"Maybe…" I whispered. Wow… I was out of practice with this leadership crap. First, we get captured and now a member of my flock disappears without a trace. I need to shape up… My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of rustling in a nearby bush. I put my hand on Nudge's arm to stop her from moving forward. I motioned for her to stay quiet and moved silently forward and got ready to attack if whatever was in the bush was a predator. I pulled back the leaves of the bush and was instantly jumped on by a bright, little, fur ball.

"Oh my God, it's Moe!" Nudge exclaimed. The strong, little dog had pushed me over when he jumped on me and was now licking my face.

"Nudge! Take her!" I exclaimed. I smelled like dog. Total never did this to me… He knew better. Nudge picked Moe off of me. She was now licking Nudge's face. Nudge didn't seem to mind though. Affectionate, little girl, isn't she… "Let's go drop her off at the camp."

"Okay!" Nudge exclaimed and carried Moe away. We arrived back the camp. Iggy looked so sad… Angel was playing with his hair while he rested his head on Jenna's backpack. Angel looked up.

"You two find anything?" She asked.

"Yeah, her dog." Nudge replied.

"Her dog?" Angel raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Nudge replied pulling Moe in front of her and walked over and handed her to Iggy. "Here you go, Ig. You can hold her." Nudge whispered. He took her in his arms and stroked her fur gently without speaking. Poor guy…

Gazzy and Fang returned a few minutes later. They found nothing at all. I felt so bad… For Iggy and Jenna… Iggy lost his love and aliens that want nothing but her demise captured Jenna… I went and sat down next to Iggy. I touched his shoulder as gently as I could.

"Hey," I whispered. "We'll find her. I promise." Iggy turned his head slightly.

"Really?" He whispered.

"Yeah. We're getting her back. She's a member of the flock now. She's one of us." I told Iggy.

"Thank you." Iggy mouthed and smiled. I swear I saw tears in his eyes. I smiled back and began slowly petting Mow with Iggy.

Jenna, stay strong. We're coming for you.

~Jenna P.O.V.~

"I swear, I don't know!" I screamed. I was curled up into a ball n the floor clutching my stomach.

"We know you know!" A Mogadorian screamed back and delivered another kick straight into my stomach. I spat out blood.

"Guys, she says she doesn't know! She probably really doesn't know!" Ari screamed from across the room.

"Shut up!" A different Mogadorian snapped and I heard a whoosh as Ari's breath left him when the Mog punched him in his stomach.

"Let's take a break." Marianne said from behind me.

"Fine by me." The Mog leader said and walked out of the room. Marianne approached me and knelt beside me.

"I don't know where any of the other numbers are." I told Marianne quietly through tears.

"I know you don't know. They know you don't know. I didn't want them to do this. They just felt like torturing you." She whispered. She gently stroked my hair. My body was relaxing against my will. I started coughing and spat out more blood. Marianne's expression turned grave and she just continued trying to relax me. She raised me from eight days old. She knew what put me to sleep. "I won't let them hurt you anymore. I promise." I heard Marianne say as my eyes closed and I was out.

I woke up sometime later. Ari and I were back in our little, concrete room. My head was resting in lap. I lifted my head up. Everything ached, my stomach felt like it was ripped in two.

"Hey." Ari said plainly.

"Hey." I replied in a weak voice.

"How're you feeling?" He asked.

"Fine." I said quickly.

"Really?" He replied.

"Yeah." I said weakly. Ari knew not to ask me any more questions about how I felt. "Why did you let me sleep on you?" I asked after a few minutes of silence.

"You looked really uncomfortable on the ground." He replied.

"Well, thanks." I smiled at him.

"Anytime." He smiled. Our smiles faded when the door opened. A Mogadorian walked in and through some gross looking, rotten food-ish thing on the ground in front of us and flashed a evil smile then turned and walked out.

"What the hell is that?" I said after a few minutes of staring at it.

"Not a clue…" Ari responded. "I want to touch it." He added.

"You're such a boy." I snickered.

"Let's go!" He said and got up pulling my behind him due to the short chain connecting us.

"Careful!" I screamed. We were standing over the thing on the ground. Ari, of course, picked it up.

"Jenna, touch it! It feels so weird!" He exclaimed.

"No, Ari! I don't want to touch it!" I snapped.

"You're such a girl!" He chuckled.

"And I'm proud of that!" I tittered. Ari continued trying to shove the crap into my face for a few minutes. To be honest, it was actually kind of fun, except you know, the gross, disgusting thing that was going to touch my face if I didn't constantly move… "I dare you to take a bite." I said when Ari and I were sitting against the wall again.

"Hell no!" He exclaimed. "Only if you take one first…" He said later.

"Not going to happen." I snickered.

"That's what I thought." Ari chuckled. We were silent for a few minutes. I started looking around for a way out.

"C'mon." I said getting up and dragging Ari behind me to the door. I put my ear up to in and tapped on it. "Twelve inches thick. Carbon intermediate steel alloy… Reinforced with tungsten…" I mumbled.

"You got that just by tapping on a door?" He asked.

"It's a gift." I replied. "Well, we're clearly not getting out this way." I sighed after a little more fumbling with the door.

"How are we getting out?" Ari asked.

"No clue yet. But you'll be the first to know when I figure out a plan." I replied.

"Who else would you tell?" He replied.

"Exactly." I winked at him.

~Iggy P.O.V.~

"Iggy, eat." Max said pushing food toward me.

"I don't want too." I whispered. I was still petting Jenna's dog. How did Max and Nudge find her anyway? I really don't get it.

"Iggy, you need to eat something. Please?" Max pleaded. I sighed and sat up. I received some kind of food from Max, which I ate slowly. I finished it and laid back down on the ground. Nudge came and sat by me.

"Hey." She whispered.

"Hey." I replied.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm great. Just great." I snapped.

"Iggy, we're going to find her." Nudge whispered.

"I know." I replied. "I just wish I could've done something. She was right next to me. I should've woken up."

"Iggy, there was nothing you could've done. Even if you would've woken up, if the Mogadorians are as bad as Jenna says they are, you could've gotten really hurt." Nudge told me.

"Yeah. You're right. I just really wish she was here right now." I whispered.

"We all do Iggy. Even Fang. He just won't admit that he likes her." Nudge whispered. "Take a nap or something. You look exhausted."

"Whatever." I whispered and closed my eyes and was asleep not a minute later.

I woke up to what I guessed was nighttime. I didn't hear anyone moving around me but I heard slow, steady breathing so I guess everyone was asleep. I felt down around me for Moe. I couldn't feel her anywhere near me. Not again! Everything I care about just leaves me when I'm asleep. Whatever. I'm sure Moe's around here somewhere, probably with Nudge or Angel. Oh well. I'm going back to sleep. Hopefully we do something tomorrow. I doubt it though.

~Jenna P.O.V.~

I gave up trying to come up with an escape plan about an hour ago. I was now just resting my head against the wall. Ari was playing with that food-ish thing from before.

"You're still playing with that thing?" I snickered.

"Yeah. It's squishy." He replied.

"That's gross." I chuckled.

"You sure you don't want a bite?" He snickered.

"I'd rather starve." I replied.

"Yeah… Me too…" He agreed. "You look tired."

"I am." I smiled.

"Go to sleep." He replied.

"I don't want too." I said.

"Why not?" He asked.

"I want to figure out how to get out of here." I replied.

"You can do that tomorrow. Get some sleep." He commanded.

"Fine." I replied and laid down and rested my head on his leg. "Night."

"Night." He replied and I fell fast asleep.

I woke up some time later. I heard screaming and a lot of banging. I sat up and looked around.

"Ari, wake up." I said lightly hitting his arm.

"What's going on?" He asked as his eyes opened.

"I don't know. I woke up and heard this." I replied.

"This is weird." Ari said.

"Yeah, I know." I replied. We started hearing really loud snarling and growling outside of our little concrete room. Mogs were screaming in fear. Something banged hard against the door. It happened again. And again. What was happening? The twelve inch thick door finally gave out along with bits and pieces of the walls. Ari acted quick and pulled us out of the way of the ruble. In the doorway stood a very large creature. Ari's and my eyes widened as it let out a loud, wicked screech. Not at us though… At the dozens of Mogs charging it. I watched as Mog after Mog exploded into clouds of dust when they reached the creature. The creature looked distracted.

"Jenna! Let's go!" Ari screamed. Him and I took off running away from the creature. I kept up with him so I wasn't dragging him behind me. We ran into a large room where Marianne and the Mog leader from the school were standing.

"What the hell is that thing?" I screamed at the Mog.

"I would not know, it is from your planet!" He yelled back.

"That thing is NOT from Lorien!" Marianne snapped.

"Nothing like that resides on Mogadore either!" The Mog screamed. The creature appeared in the room, it's eyes locked on me.

"Ari, get ready to move!" I screamed. Ari nodded. The creature charged at Ari and I. Ari and I foolishly tried to run different ways. The two of us crashed down onto the unforgiving ground and the creature leaped at me. I squeezed my eyes shut, preparing for the worst.

"Jenna!" I heard Marianne's voice shriek in terror.

"Jenna?" I heard Ari whisper. Was I alive? I slowly opened my eyes. The creature was almost on top on me just looking at me. I looked into its eyes. Something about them were so familiar… Then it hit me…

"Moe?" I whispered. My jaw dropped. This huge, gigantic, terrifying creature was my cute, adorable, copper and white Pomeranian… She responded by liking my face with her huge tongue. "Hey sweetie." I smiled and stroked her much larger nose. I was still shocked as to how this was my dog… She turned her gaze on the Mogadorian. She hurdled herself off of me and went after him. He ran like a scared little girl. I snickered quietly to myself. Ari rushed to my side and helped me to my feet. Marianne scurried after Moe to stop him from hurting her little boyfriend or whatever.

"Let's split." Ari said.

"Wait, that's my dog. I have to wait for her." I replied.

"Your dog? That thing almost tore you limb from limb." He snapped.

"She licked my face." I replied. A few seconds later, Moe, now un-morphed, ran back to us. I picked her up. "Now, let's split." Ari nodded and we took off running. We ran out of the place where we had been held captive. We ran for a half an hour straight before Ari and I needed to stop.

"That thing was that?" He exclaimed trying to catch his breath and pointing at Moe.

"I guess so…" I replied trying to catch my breath as well. Moe growled at Ari. He flinched a bit and I laughed. "She's not going to hurt you. Relax okay?" I snickered.

"Okay." He exhaled. Slowly, we caught our breath.

"We need to find the flock." I said after my breath returned.

"Hell no! If you didn't notice, we hate each other!" He yelled.

"Yeah, I know. But they have all my weapons and stuff that I need to free us." I reasoned.

"Fine." He said quickly. "But after we're separated, I'm leaving. They'll want me too anyway." 'I wish they would accept me though.' He thought. I nodded slowly and sighed. Ari and I started walking again. We couldn't really get to far because it was pitch black outside and we had no clue where we were. "I think we should stop." Ari said after about an hour of aimless walking.

"Yeah. You're right." I agreed.

"Always am." He snickered.

"Yeah, okay." I smiled. Ari and I built a small fire. We were sitting against a tree just watching it when my stomach growled really, really loudly. I sighed.

"We never did eat anything today." Ari said solemnly.

"What should we do?" I asked.

"Hunt, scavenge, those are our only two options." He replied. I groaned. "Or we could go hungry." He added. I shrugged. "Get some sleep. It's to dark to do anything now." He said gently. I nodded and rested my head against Ari's shoulder.

"Night." I whispered.

"Night." Ari whispered. Moe barked once and laid her head down in my lap. I smiled and ran my hand down Moe's fur once then closed my eyes. I fell asleep a few minutes later thinking about how I was going to find Iggy tomorrow.

Sound flooded my ears; I was awake. I opened my eyes and sat up.

"Good morning." Ari said when he realized I was awake.

"Hey." I yawned.

"Sleep well?" He asked.

"Eh, well enough. You?" I grumbled.

"Same." He replied.

"It's freezing out here!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, it is." He agreed.

"Let's walk around for a while." I said.

"Okay." Ari smiled. I picked Moe off of my lap and set her on the ground. She shot off in a random direction as soon as her short, little legs touched the ground.

"Damn it! Moe, get back here!" I yelled as Ari and I shot up and took off after her.

"Go left!" Ari yelled as approached a tree ahead of us. "No, your other left!" Ari yelled when I went right. To late… The chain connecting Ari and I hit the trunk of the tree and stopped us cold in our tracks. We crashed down to the ground.

"Ow, I think my arm is out of its socket." I said. Pain was clear in my voice.

"Yeah, mine too." Ari replied, his tone matching mine. Moe was running in circles around us. She was so weird!

"Note to self: learn my directions." I said weakly.

"Yeah, do that." Ari replied gravely. Ari and I just lay on the ground on opposite sides of the tree. Something was clearly wrong with my arm. Pain ripped through my shoulder in waves and it just didn't look right.

"What was that?" I heard a female voice that wasn't mine say. Ari's and my head snapped up.

"You say something?" He asked.

"Nope." I replied.

"Didn't think so." Ari said. We jumped to our feet and I scooped Moe into my good arm. We got ready to take off running, but then six familiar figures stepped out from behind a cover of trees.

"Hey guys." I said softly.

"Jenna!" Nudge exclaimed. "Ari." She sounded pissed. The next second, everyone turned violent. Ari lurched at the flock towing me and my separated shoulder behind him and the flock took up attack positions.

"Okay, can we all just stop for a second?" I screamed at the top of my lungs and ran into the middle of things.

"Jenna, move." Max commanded.

"I actually can't." I pointed to the chain connecting Ari and I. "So, if we all could just calm down, Ari and I are stuck together." Everyone's expressions turned soft.

"You were both-" Max began.

"Held hostage by Mogadorians? Yeah." I interrupted. "Ari more or less saved my life yesterday." I whispered. I felt Ari relax beside me. The flock relaxed. I let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you." I whispered. No one was going to fight… At the moment… Nudge ran over to me keeping a close eye on Ari. "Hey." I whispered.

"Stop disappearing at night!" She yelled and threw her arms around me.

"Ow! Careful! I think I separated my shoulder." I said. Agony still aroused in my voice.

"Iggy! Your girlfriends hurt!" Nudge yelled and took Moe away from me. I snickered as she walked away from me. Ari stiffened next to me. Iggy was in front of me within the next second. Ignoring the pain, I threw my arms around his neck, dragging Ari's arm along with mine.

"I am so sorry." I whispered into Iggy's chest. I felt his arms coil around my waist.

"It's okay." He whispered into my hair. "As long as you're here now."

We were finally together again. Too bad I was going to have to leave again soon…

* * *

**GUYS. SERIOUSLY. I don't if this is good and you want me to continue unless you review! Loves you bunches! :3**


	9. Chapter 9

Clink. Another failure. No matter what I did I couldn't get the chain to break.

"Just give it up Jenna. It's not going to break." Ari said, clearly bored. I started just aimlessly stabbing at it with my knife.

"You're going to hurt yourself!" Iggy exclaimed and took the knife away from me. I sighed.

"This is so frustrating." I whined. Ari, Iggy, and I were sitting at the base of a tree. I was desperately trying to free Ari and I from the annoyingly heavy chain connecting us. I let my head fall back and rest against the tree's trunk.

"Too bad you can't just pick the lock…" Gazzy said from across the campsite. My head rose up slowly.

"Oh my gosh. I literally never thought of that." I admitted out loud.

"Oh my God, Jenna." Max and everyone else laughed. I pulled my backpack close to me and dug to the bottom.

"C'mon, there has to be at least one…" I mumbled quietly to myself. AH HA! There at the bottom of my backpack… "Ha! Found one!" I sang and pulled out a single bobby pin. I held up my end of the chain and stuck the pin in the lock hole thing. A little tweaking here… Some jimber-jabering there... And a schbrig, just a schbrig, of magic somewhere else…

CLANK!

The metal chain around my wrist fell into my lap.

"Boom." I said all cocky like.

"There you go, Jenna." Max snickered. I started massaging my chafing wrist.

"Good job. Now do it to me." Ari snapped all rude and junk. Wow, someone acted differently around the flock…

"Rub this." I demanded and pushed my throbbing wrist into Iggy's hand. I pulled Ari's chained wrist and to me went to town on that lock.

"Ouch! Careful! My shoulder's still all messed up and crap!" Ari snapped.

"Shhhh. I'm focusing…" I snapped. Did I mention I hadn't slept in like two days because I've been trying to break this stupid chain? I didn't? Well… I haven't slept in like two days because I've been trying to break this STUPID CHAIN!

CLANK!

The metal chain around Ari's wrist fell into my lap.

"What now, chain!" I exclaimed and threw the unlocked handcuffs into my backpack.

"Maybe now she'll actually sleep." Fang snickered from beside Max. Iggy was rubbing my wrist. What a saint.

"We're free!" I giggled.

"Great, now go to sleep. Both of you." Iggy said to Ari and I. Nicer to me of course…

"Okay…" I giggled again. I was so giggly and out of it… I needed sleep… Really, really bad…

"Should I just leave?" Ari asked.

"We'll talk about it after you're not two days sleep deprived." Max replied. "Now go to sleep." Ari nodded and laid down on the ground. Iggy laid down and I got comfy on his chest.

"Nighty night everybody!" I exclaimed, even though it was broad daylight outside...

"She's so loopy." Nudge snickered.

"Good night Jenna." Max snickered.

"Night Jenna." Iggy chuckled and I felt him kiss my head. I closed my eyes and was out like a little bunny rabbit chasing after another little bunny rabbit… What? I'm an alien, not a poet… Don't you judge me.

Where am I? I feel… weightless… Floating… I think I'm floating. Where could I possibly be?

"She can't be too hard to find." I heard an Aussie accented voice that sound much like mine snap. Huh? I opened my eyes to see three figures sitting around a campfire much like our own when we had one.

"If she's anything like you, she can stay under the radar though." A muscular guy with blond hair and, I squinted, blue eyes replied.

"She's young though. She'll slip up. And when she does, we'll notice." The girl stated crossing her arms around her chest. She looked so familiar… Who were these people? I noticed the third figure just sat there and listened like he really didn't get a say in what his group. He was thin… Like I doubt he weighed over one hundred pounds. He had dark brown hair and, I squinted again, hazel eyes.

"She's number nine though. We have time before we need to find her." The first guy spoke up again. My eyes widened. They were talking about me?

"You're right. I just don't want to take any chances with her. I feel… protective… of her…" She said, her voice sincere. I raised an eyebrow.

"As you should. But her Cêpan is still alive, so she has protection."

"That could change in one night." Her Aussie accent droned on.

"Even with her being sixteen, I'm sure her Legacies developed to an extent, enough to protect herself from the Mogs." He reassured her.

"Yeah. You're right. I'm sure she's not defenseless." She nodded in the firelight.

And then everything began to fade away.

My eyes flew open, I felt like I couldn't breathe. What had just happened to me? I jolted off of Iggy's chest. It was so dark! Why was it so- Oh, it was nighttime… A small fire crackled in the center of us. Everyone was asleep except me and now Iggy, who was at my side.

"Jenna? What's wrong? Did you have a bad dream?" He whispered. I was still trying to catch my breath. What had just happened had rendered my breathless for some reason… I guess you could call it… breathtaking… If you wanted too… My heart was racing. Who were those people? Iggy shook me gently. "Jenna?" Was this a Legacy developing? My breathing was ragged and uneven and wasn't showing any signs of improving. "Are you okay?" Iggy asked after a few minutes of waiting for me to respond.

"To be honest, I don't know." I replied. I sucked in a long breath and held it.

"What happened?" Iggy grabbed my arms to stop me from walking.

"On my planet, people like me develop Legacies… I-I think I'm getting one now." I exhaled.

"Will this stop?" He asked.

"Probably… But I'm not sure when." I replied. Iggy pulled me into a hug. My whole body was quivering. Iggy just held me. I listened to his breathing and tried to match it. I saw Moe get up from beside Angel and trot over to my backpack. She started sniffing it and pawing at it. "What is she-…" I whispered. Iggy kept one of his arms around my waist as I pulled my backpack to me. Moe followed, still sniffing at it. I unzipped it and was instantly blinded by a brilliant florescent blue light that matched the color or my knife. "C'mon." I whispered and grabbed Iggy's hand and towed him behind me. Backpack in hand; I lead Iggy a few yards from our campsite. Moe followed right on our heels. My breathing had returned to normal.

"Where are we going?" Iggy asked.

"Something in my backpack is glowing and want to figure out what without waking anyone up." I replied.

"Glowing?" He asked.

"Very brightly." I replied.

"What is it?" He asked.

"No idea yet." I replied honestly. I set my backpack on the ground and opened it again. I found the source of the light and pulled it out: it was the box that I had taken off Marianne's desk in the fire. I fumbled around with it for a few minutes until it stopped glowing. Strange, it still wouldn't open. I shrugged and put it back in my backpack.

"Find it?" Iggy asked.

"Yeah, but I don't know what it is…" I replied.

"Want to go back?" Iggy asked.

"Yeah." I sighed and turned and we began making out way back. Moe had leaped into Iggy's arms. Awww. They were so cute together! Iggy wrapped his free arm around my waist and we walked back to our camp like that. We arrived back at out campsite and everyone was still asleep.

"Still tired?" Iggy asked.

"Eh, I could sleep." I replied. "You?"

"Me too." Iggy laid on the ground and I resumed my position on his chest. Moe curled up in a ball at Iggy's side. Awww! She likes him! "Hey, wait. There's something I want to do quickly."

"What's that?" I lifted my head to look at his face. He sat up slightly and I felt his hand slide across the back of my head. He expertly guided our mouths together. His lips felt soft and warm against mine. My eyelids fluttered closed. Iggy's hands slide down from my head and I felt both of his arms snake around my waist. I sat up more so he could pull me closer, which he did a second later. Our lips broke just long enough for him to lean his head the opposite way. His lips were back on mine in less then a second. I ran my hand down his chest: his heart was racing and so was mine. A smile made its way across my lips. This was literally the perfect moment…

Too bad it was interrupted by a low growl from beside us…

Our mouths ripped apart and my smile faded. I turned my head to see Ari glaring at us in the firelight. His sinister stare sent chills down my spine.

"Ari? You okay?" I whispered from still coiled in Iggy's arms. Ari blinked a few times and the shook his head.

"Yeah. I'm fine." He growled. He tore his eyes from us.

"You sure?" I asked.

"Yes. I just slept on my shoulder wrong and now it hurts again." He grumbled. 'What the hell could she possibly see in that blind freak? He can't even see how amazing she is!' His mind snapped. My eyes widened. Could Ari- No. He couldn't… could he?

"Want me to look at it?" Iggy asked from against him. Iggy had fixed my shoulder when we first were all reunited again. Ari had refused his help.

"No. I'll be fine." Ari snapped. Rage and acid was clear in his tone of voice.

"Just asking." Iggy replied. It was clear these two did not like each other… His arms loosened around my waist. "I'm going back to sleep. Night." Iggy said and cupped my face in his hands and pecked my lips with his once more before laying down on the ground, his head on my backpack once more. I felt my cheeks heat up once more; I was blushing, probably a very bright color.

"Night." I smiled. Ari flinched when our lips made contact. "Ari, you sure you're okay?" I whispered as I scooted closer to him. His eyes were locked on the small campfire.

"Yeah." He said plainly.

"What's wrong?" I asked. I figured if he didn't answer truthfully out loud, his mind would hold the answer.

"Nothing." He snapped at me. 'You had your mouth all over that idiot!' His mind snapped. Our kissing scene repeated itself over and over again in Ari's mind. His eyes were troubled. I sighed. "What?" He snapped.

"You seem upset about something." I replied.

"I'm fine, okay? Go to sleep." He snapped again. Ari wouldn't meet my gaze. He just kept replaying and replaying Iggy's and my kiss in his head, torturing himself. I sighed and nodded solemnly. I went and laid down on Iggy's chest. I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep and truly fell asleep about a half an hour later.

My dreams were interrupted by someone gently shaking my. I groaned loudly.

"Yeah, I know Jenna. But you got to wake up, we got to get moving." Iggy's voice whispered into my ear. I opened my eyes and was suddenly blinded by the sun. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. He copied me and sat up too. "Max and everyone went to find more food."

"Did I take forever to wake up again?" I asked my voice was masked by grogginess.

"Yeah." He snickered.

"Sorry." I giggled. He smiled and got on his feet. This time, I followed him and got to my feet. My hand brushed against Iggy shirt.

"You're freezing! I felt your hand through my shirt!" He exclaimed.

"Am I?" I touched my face. "Dang! I am cold!" I exclaimed.

"I got you." Iggy snickered and pulled me into a hug. He was so warm compared to me! I buried my face into his chest.

"You're so warm!" I moaned into his shirt.

"I know." He snickered in a cocky tone. A few minutes later, he released me and I went back to freezing my butt off. Then, not two minutes later, Max and the flock along with Ari returned with food.

"Jenna, you suck at waking up." Max said while we were eating.

"Sorry. Heavy sleeper." I replied.

"We've noticed." Fang snickered. I snickered at Fang's statement. I glanced over at Ari. His eyes still looked troubled.

"Ari's coming with us." Max said after a few minutes.

"What? Why?" Iggy exclaimed.

"Iggy, relax." I whispered and squeezed his thigh gently.

"He doesn't want to go back to the school." Max explained.

"Yeah, neither do we! How do we know this isn't a trap?" Iggy snapped. I squeezed his thigh harder trying to get him to shut up.

"Iggy, calm down. He's an experiment, like us." Max replied in her stern, leader voice.

'She just feels sorry for him because he's her brother.' Iggy's mind snapped. Iggy didn't actually say anything else though. Ari kept glancing over me every time he saw me moving my hands.

'If she grabs that losers hand, I will lose it.' His mind screamed. Well. This was awkward… I wanted to just fly like we used to. Wait, how were we going to fly? Did Ari have wings? All my questions were answered about ten minutes later. We had packed up our stuff and were about to take off. Ari unfurled these awkward looking wings.

"We were all born with our wings but Ari has his grafted on his back when he was seven." Fang whispered to me when he saw me gawking.

"That explains it." I replied.

"Yeah." Fang whispered. And with that, we were in the air. We had been flying for about an hour when a thought suddenly struck Ari.

"How the hell are you flying?" He yelled at me.

"Levitation, my good man." I yelled back. "You didn't think I was a powerless alien, did you?" I snickered as I floated to his side.

"I had my suspicions!" He replied.

"Nope! I can float!" I smiled.

"Obviously!" He chuckled. Iggy swooped in next to us.

"Hey." He said and squeezed my hand gently. Ari tensed up and tore away from us. I raised an eyebrow and then shrugged it off.

"Hey." I smiled.

"How you holding up? You haven't flown in a while." He said to me.

"Fine. I'm not exhausted yet. So that's good." I snickered.

"Good." He smiled.

"So hey, remember last night, when I woke up panting?" I decided I was going to tell him about what I had seen in my dream.

"Yeah. What happened?" He replied.

"I think I had a… a vision…" I stammered.

"Of what?" He replied. I like how he just accepts my weirdness. It's so sweet!

"I-I think it was of the other numbers… I'm not sure which ones though…" I replied.

"What were they doing?" He asked.

"Just sitting around a campfire, talking… about me…" I replied. A thought suddenly struck me. "What if they're trying to find me? I-if they find me, I might be taken away from you… and the flock… What then? I've never actually had a family before and I really don't want to leave this one…" I ranted frantically.

"Whatever happens, I'm for sure coming with you." He replied quietly.

"You don't know how much danger that would put you in." I whispered.

"Don't care. I'm not losing you for a third time." He replied firmly. I swear if we weren't flying, I totally would have thrown my arms around this boy and probably kissed him. But we were flying… so I couldn't.

That's depressing.

Another hour later, I was exhausted. I hadn't used my legacies in a while. I was glad when Nudge began whining.

"Max, I'm tired!" She complained. Thank you Nudge!

"Want to take a break?" Max asked everyone. Everyone agreed and we began our descent. My legs hit the ground and gave out. I face-planted. In front of everyone. Great job self.

"Mother trucker!" I screamed. Note to self: shake legs out every few minutes while flying so they're not numb when we land. Iggy and Ari both scrambled to help me to my feet while everyone else just snickered.

"You okay there?" Max asked.

"Yeah. My legs are numb." I chuckled. Ari and Iggy both held one of my arms. "I'm fine guys, really." I assured them. They let me go a few seconds later but stayed at my sides in case I fell again.

"Sit." Iggy urged me.

"Speaking of sit, where's Moe?" I asked looking around.

"I got her!" Angel called from behind me.

"Thanks! Just wondering." I turned and smiled at Angel. That kid was finally warming up to me! It's about time! A few of sitting later, Iggy turned to me.

"Want to go for a walk?" He asked me.

"Sure!" I exclaimed. I was bored. Iggy and I got up and turned to go.

"Be right back." Iggy told Max.

"Have fun you two." She winked.

"Can I come?" Ari asked. 'Yeah, like I'm actually going to let this loser be alone with Jenna.'

"Sure." Iggy snapped his face enraged. He clearly didn't want Ari to come but didn't want to deal with what the flock would say if he said he wanted me to himself. "Let's go." He said and walked off. Ari and I looked at each other. I shrugged and followed with Ari on my heels.

"Where we going Iggy?" I asked after a few minutes.

"I think there's a lake around here somewhere." He replied.

"Another lake? Max is really good at stopping us near lakes." I snickered. Iggy chuckled. Sure enough, roughly three minutes later, we stood in front of a large, crystal clear lake, the sun's rays reflecting off of the surface. It looked inviting… But I didn't want to be the only one wet… I shed my jacket and my sweatshirt and basked in the sun's heat. "Sheesh… I smell weird…" I said after a few minutes in the sun. "You smell fine." He called to me from in the lake. He had taken off his sweatshirt and was now walking into the water with his jeans rolled up. Lucky ducky. He wasn't wearing skinny jeans. He could do that…

"You're just saying that so I'll kiss you again." I joked.

"You found out?" He snickered. I glanced over to Ari. He was leaning against a tree in the shade. His face was unreadable.

"Ari, come out and bask in the vitamin D!" I called to him.

"Nah, I'm not really a sunny person." He replied in a plain tone.

"You vampire!" I exclaimed. He snickered. Yay! I got him to smile! I got up and ran over to him. "C'mon!" I squeaked and grabbed his hands and pulled him into the sun.

"I guess this isn't SO bad." He snickered after a few minutes of sitting with me in the sunlight.

"Great, now ditch the jacket and get your butt in the water. You smell funny." I mocked, got up, and ran into the water. He actually listened to me and followed me into the water. I made my way over to Iggy.

"Hey." He said when he heard me coming.

"Hey. Water you doing?" I nudged him.

"Of course you'd say that." He snickered.

"C'mon! You've known my for a long time now, you should be expecting this!" I chuckled.

"What? You're full of surprises." He replied and pulled me into a hug. "But so am I." He added and tipped over into the water dragging me down with him. We both we under water in the next second.

"You jerk!" I screamed as I resurfaced.

"I know." Iggy laughed. "I couldn't resist." I hugged me again. I wrapped my drenched arms around Iggy's neck. He rested his chin on my soaked hair. "Let's head back. It'll take us a little bit to dry off." He whispered.

"Okay." I mumbled. He picked up my hand walked with me back to the shore. Ari was sitting in the shallow water playing with sand.

"We're getting ready to head back." Iggy told Ari as we passed him. Iggy, Ari, and I reached the shore at the same time. Iggy instantly took off his shirt and began wringing it out. I could do that…

"Hey, I'm going to go wring our my shirt and jeans. I'll be right back." I told them and walked into the cover of the trees.

~Iggy P.O.V.~

I listened as Jenna's footsteps faded away into the woods leaving me alone with Ari. I twisted my shirt in my hands. Ari just stood there unmoving. I wonder if this is as awkward for him as it was for me… After my shirt stopped dripping, I put it back on.

"You going to wring our your clothes?" I asked Ari.

"No. I didn't get that wet." He snapped in a angered tone. What was this dudes problem?

"What's up? You seem mad." I said plainly.

"I am mad, not that you care." Ari replied. I raised an eyebrow.

"I actually do care. You're part of the flock now. We're like family." I told him. Not really.

"Shut up, alright?" He snapped. "I know you don't mean that. None of you except Jenna and maybe Max even want me around."

"Then why are you here?" I snapped.

"I'm waiting for Jenna to stop being stupid and come with me." He growled. My fists clenched and my body heated up. I whirled around into the direction his voice was coming from.

"That will never happen." I hissed.

Then, I lost it.

~Jenna P.O.V.~

I slipped my shirt and pants back on and let my damp hair hang below my shoulders. At least I wasn't dripping wet anymore. I turned and slowly made my way back to where Iggy and Ari were waiting. I arrived just in time to see them charging at each other. I flashed into the middle of them and put my hands up to stop them.

"Whoa, guys. Chill. We're all friends here." I reasoned as they both stopped at my touch. Ari's violent eyes were locked on Iggy. Iggy's sightless eyes were locked on Ari's face. He too was pissed! What could've possibly happened in the three seconds I was gone? They remained silent. They looked as if they wanted to rip each other apart… This was not good.

"Jenna. Move." Ari growled.

"No. You two need to calm down." I growled right back. 'Max, I really need help over here!' I sent the thought to Max. Hopefully she would receive it or this could get messy… "Guys, breathe. Just calm down, please." I pleaded.

"Not until he goes away." Iggy hissed.

"Iggy-" I began.

"Shut up you blind idiot! Jenna, what the hell do you see in this loser?" Ari interrupted looking at me.

"Ari-" I began again.

"Don't put her on the spot like that! This is between you and me!" Iggy snapped.

"Fine with me!" Ari growled. This sure escalated quickly…

"What's going on here?" Max's voice hissed. The flock was here. Praise the Lord!

"Nothing." Ari and Iggy both growled. Ari's intense gaze was still locked on Iggy's sightless one. Fang and Max rushed in next to me to keep the two of them apart. They pulled Iggy aside and I towed Ari away. I pushed him into the woods far from where Max and Fang had pushed Iggy.

"Hey, what happened while I was gone?" I whispered to Ari when the flock was out of sight.

"I just don't get why you like that freak." He snapped.

"Ari, I don't get why you're mad." I said quietly.

"He's not good for you." Ari whispered.

"You don't know him like I do." I replied.

"Jenna, you don't know who they really are." He whispered.

"You don't know who I really am." I replied quietly.

"But I'd like too." He said quietly, his eyes locked on me.

"Ari, no. I lov-" I was interrupted by Ari's lips on mine. My eyes widened. Instead of pulling away like I was telling myself to do, my arms wrapped around his neck and my eyes fluttered closed. Ari ran his hands down my sides and stopped at my waist. He pulled me closer to him. My body brain and brain refused to coordinate on how I felt about this. My brain wanted to push him away and yell at him, but my body refused to push away from him. My fingers tangled in his dark hair. He leaned me leaning against a tree and he stood over me. He broke our lip contact and leaned in the opposite way. He pressed his mouth against mine once more. I sucked in air through my nose and I felt his warm breath on my face when he exhaled. My lips involuntarily spread into a smile.

"You're smiling." Ari chuckled and then put his lips back on mine.

"Am I?" I giggled and then his lips were back on mine. What was happening? I could only fall in love once! It's times like these when hated being Loric. I had no clue of the feelings I was experiencing right now. I mean I loved Iggy… I really did… But now, what was I feeling for Ari?

"Yeah." He chuckled and then his lips were locked again. I heard a twig snap somewhere around us. My eyelids ripped apart and I tore myself away from Ari. I shoved him away from me.

"Jenna?" He said and took a step toward me.

"Ari, stop." I snapped.

"What's wrong?" He stepped forward and grabbed my hand.

"I don't know what's happening." I murmured.

"What do you mean?" He asked in a quiet, patient tone.

"Let's just go back." I said quickly. He nodded once and let go of my hand. I shoved my hands in my pockets and turned and walked to the campsite. Everyone in the flock was waiting for us.

"It's about freaking time! What the hell were you two doing?" Max snapped.

"Nothing." Ari and I both said: me in an irritated, snappy tone and Ari in a happy excited tone. A smile had formed on his lips and I just glared at him. I looked into his mind and blocked off his thoughts from Angel. I did not want this to go public; I was already ashamed enough. I looked away and went over to where Iggy was sitting holding Moe.

"We're getting ready to take off." Max said her tone had changed. She sensed that I was upset. Her mind revealed it all. She also knew I didn't want to talk about it. Good. I nodded and picked up my backpack and slung the straps over my shoulders. I felt Iggy grab my hand. I flinched slightly.

"Hey, are you okay?" He whispered into my ear, concern present in his tone.

"I'm fine. Are you okay?" I asked as I turned to face him. Guilt slowly began to overcome me as my eyes met Iggy's face.

"Yeah. Max and Fang calmed me down." He smiled. "I'm sorry you had to see that." He whispered.

"It's okay. W-we all make mistakes." I replied in a nervous, shaky voice.

"I'm glad you're not mad at me. I thought you would be." He said and pulled me into a tight hug.

'Not as mad as you're going to be at me…' I thought and wrapped my arms around him. "Not at all." I replied into his chest.

"Good." He kissed my head. He released me and picked up my hand. "Let's go." He said and led me to where we were going to take off. I glanced over my shoulder at Ari. He had his back against a tree. His arms were crossed at his chest and his disgusted gaze was locked on Iggy. "By the way, I grabbed your jacket and sweatshirt for you." Iggy smiled and reached into his backpack and handed me my clothes, which was great because I was freezing! I slipped them on quickly and smiled at the warmth.

"Thanks." I told him.

"Anytime. We don't want you cold." He snickered. I was carrying Moe, who had fallen asleep in my arms. Pretty soon we had all taken to the skies. Iggy and Ari both flanked me. It was really awkward… I decided I should probably tell Iggy what happened between Ari and I…

But that could wait until we land. I hope…

* * *

**I hoped you liked it. If not, tell me why not so I can improve it. :)**


	10. Chapter 10

The brightness of the sun hurt my eyes as we continued toward it. We were going to be landing soon. Good. I was about ready to pass out from exhaustion right up here. Moe was lucky; she got to sleep in my arms. I kicked my legs around a few times to get the blood moving. I sighed shook my head. I'm sure my hair had dried all puffy and afro-like. I'm sure I could pull it off.

"Hey, how you holding up?" Iggy asked cutting through my thoughts.

"Huh? Oh. Fine." I replied startled.

"Good. Max will have us stop soon. I heard her complaining to Fang that she was tired." Iggy replied.

"Oh. Good. I'm tired." I snickered. To be honest, since what happened between Ari and I, I did not know how to act around Ari, Iggy, or anyone really. I felt like if they found out they wouldn't trust me… That's probably pretty accurate though considering Iggy was their brother and Ari was the enemy here… Well, I'm certainly in quite the pickle here… I didn't notice Nudge was beside me until she started talking.

"What did you do to Ari? I've never seen him this happy… Actually I don't think I've ever seen him happy… But he just seems ecstatic…" Nudge said. My face flushed. I felt my cheeks light up under my sunglasses.

"I, uh… didn't do anything special… I just… talked to him… and he got happy…" I stammered. I ran my fingers through my hair, like I did when I was nervous.

"Oh, well. Good job." Nudge smiled.

"T-thanks." I smiled a very awkward fake smile. Nudge raised an eyebrow.

"Are you okay? You seem twitchy…" She asked.

"Nah, I'm fine." I reassured her.

"Aright…" She replied skeptically and lowered herself from next to me. I looked at Iggy so looked skeptical too.

"You sure you're okay?" He asked.

"Of course!" My voice cracked, another thing my body does when it's all nervous and junk.

"What aren't you telling me?" He asked.

"Nothing, Iggy. Really." I replied in a quiet tone. My guilt level rose even higher. He just nodded. He hypothetically saw right through my cover. I'm going to have to tell him eventually… I sighed out loud. Iggy just squeezed my arm gently. He was so sweet… and then there I go letting other guys kiss me… and liking it… No! Brain! Stop it! I did not like it! Did I? AH, STOP. I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head. I needed to just calm down… I opened my eyes to see Ari looking at Iggy and I from across the sky. He winked at me and my heart sank. What do I do? I looked at Max who was looking at me too. Frick! Did she see Ari look at me?

'Did Ari just wink at Jenna?' She thought. Well that answers that question. I looked away quickly and glared at the ground below us. 'Why does Jenna look guilty?' Max thought. MAN, did she notice everything?

After the sun disappeared behind thick clouds, the temperature dropped drastically; it was going to storm.

"Let's land." Max called from the front. I silently lowered myself to the ground. I managed to stay upright when my feet made contact with the Earth. I slumped down at the base of a large tree with Moe in my lap. Ari and Iggy sandwiched me in between them when the landed. Can you smell the awkward? Max was looking at the three of us. 'Okay, something is wrong with Jenna…' She thought. "Jenna, walk with me." She told me.

"Okay!" I exclaimed and gave Moe to Iggy. I ran after Max after I was on my feet. "What's up?" I asked when we were alone.

"What's up with you? You look so… I don't even know. Upset or something." She said. I sighed. Should I tell her? Probably. Maybe. No. Well. Uh. Hm. "Jenna?" My eyes widened.

"Well…" I began. "Ari and I… kind of…" My voice trailed off. She raised an eyebrow. "You see… We uh-…" I stopped. "W-well…" I stammered.

"Spit it out!" She snapped.

"Ari and I kissed." I said quickly. I looked down and squeezed my eyes shut. I opened one eye. Her eyes had widened and her jaw had dropped.

"What? I-I thought… you… and Iggy…" She stammered.

"Yeah, I know. I don't know how it happened… We were just talking and then… face contact…" I replied gravely. She was shocked; she was just staring at me, her expression unreadable. Her mind was jumbled, hatred of me, then remorse for thinking that, then hatred for Ari, then remorse for thinking that.

"Who kissed who?" She asked after a few minutes.

"Ari kissed me when I was trying to tell him that I loved Iggy." I replied honestly.

"Did you… like it?" She asked.

"No. Maybe… I don't know!" I replied and slid down the trunk of a tree and hugged my knees to my chest. "All I know is that I feel awful about everything." I rested my head against my knees. "And confused, and scared, and probably every other emotion that exists." I added, my voice muffled by sobs that began to rip through my chest. "Not to mention the millions of thousands of people that could die if I get distracted." Tears began falling down my face as everything that was going on in my life hit me at once.

"I have a feeling this isn't just about you and Ari kissing anymore." Max said as I felt her sit down beside me.

"What if I can't do this? What if I'm not strong enough to stop what's coming?" I squeaked. I was seriously freaking out.

"Jenna, relax okay?" She said. I felt her hand on my back.

"How can I relax? I'm a weak, low-life, two-timer not even from this planet!" I screamed into my knees. I looked up to see her concerned eyes on me.

"Jenna! You're not weak at all, you're one of the nicest people I know, and you're not a two-timer; you just made a mistake. You're young, it happens. Breathe." She replied.

"I'm not a person, remember?" I replied and pressed my head against my knees again.

"Alright fine, you're the nicest Loric I know." She snickered.

"Well, thank you." I laughed through my tears.

"Never get that down on yourself. Whatever you're going through, you're not going through it alone. You have us, and the other numbers probably all made the same realization one time or another." She replied.

"Yeah, you're right." I looked up and sighed. I wiped a tear off of my cheek with my sleeve.

"Better?" Max asked.

"Much." I smiled.

"Good. Now, I promise I won't tell anyone what happened between Ari and you, I'll let you do that when you're ready." Max said.

"Okay, okay." I nodded solemnly.

"Want to head back?" She asked.

"Not really. Being sandwiched in between Ari and Iggy doesn't really sound appetizing right now." I snickered.

"I know how you feel." She chuckled as she got to her feet.

"So where're we actually going?" I asked.

"As far away from the school as possible." She replied.

"I like that plan." I snickered.

"We all do." She smiled.

"What ar-" I began to say.

"Jenna, Max, we need you here now!" I heard Fang's voice scream. I shot up to my feet. Max's head whipped around. We looked at each other and took off running toward our campsite. I arrived before her and saw the flock and Ari all huddled to one side and a Mog standing to the opposite. Max was next to me in the next second.

"Hello, humans and," He looked me over. "Nine." The Mog said and flashed a hideous smile.

"What do you want?" I snapped.

"Full of spite aren't we, young one?" He looked at me, his smile extended.

Indeed we are. Now what do you want?" I shot right back.

"I saw you all land. I, fascinated, decided to pay you all a visit. And then I realized, one of you are from Lorien, the very Loric I have a message for." His eyes glittered with excitement.

"And what's that?" I raised an eyebrow.

"You notice that most of the humans you have befriended surround you, but what of the other. What of the other one? What is her name again?" He thought for a second. "Oh yes, Ella Martinez. What of her?" My stare turned cold. I heard Max and Nudge gasp. I kept my eyes locked on the Mog who had his eyes locked on me. "You have left her unprotected and defenseless." I clenched my fists. I bit my lip to try to keep from losing control.

Too late…

When I tasted blood, instead of it calming me like usual, it made me snap. I reached into the inside of my jacket and ripped out my knife. Already unsheathed, I lurched myself at the Mog. I had him pinned against a tree, my knife at his neck.

"Now, now Nine. I am but a messenger, and as the Earth people say, 'Don't shoot the messenger.'" His cocky smile remained at his lips. I felt a very ragged, broken up breath leave my body. I recoiled and threw the Mog hard onto the ground.

"If you so much as harm one hair on her head, I promise you and your people that I will never show any mercy next time I see any of you. Now, crawl back to whatever filthy hollow you Mogadorians inhabit." I growled in a very low, frightening voice that I didn't even know I could muster.

"Until next time." The Mog hissed as he got up and limped away. I waited until he was out of sight before I squeezed my eyes shut and breathed. I pivoted around on my heels and shoved my knife back into its sheath on the inside of my jacket. My breathing was ragged and choppy and my hands were trembling with rage. I walked behind my shocked friends and picked up my backpack.

"Jenna, where do you think your going?" Max asked as she shook her head.

"Back to Arizona." I replied as I walked passed her.

"You're being stupid if you think I'm letting you go alone." She said grabbing my arm.

"And you're insane if you think I'm letting you all come with me. This is for sure a trap and I'm not letting you all falling into it too." I said turning to her.

"Jenna, we're coming with you, even if we have to follow you." Fang cut in.

"Yeah, really." Iggy stated.

"You heard the boys," Max said, "We're coming with you." I sighed.

"Guys, Mogadorians will not hesitate to hurt you, maybe even worse if they're in a bad mood. I don't want any of you getting hurt, it would kill me." I replied gravely.

"Then, we'll hide in a bush or something and be there just in case we're needed to back you up. Point it, you're not going alone." Max told me.

"We need to get there really fast. Like really fast." I replied accepting the fact that they weren't letting me go alone.

"We can fly fast!" Gazzy exclaimed.

"Alright then, let's go." I smiled. And we were off flying fasted then we had ever gone before. We needed to get to Ella and Dr. Martinez. Who knows the kind of danger they could possibly be in.

We barreled through the darkness in silence. Max and I were in front leading the others. It was going to take a while to get there. This was bad.

"Jenna, you can go on ahead if you want." Max said to me when she noticed I was having an anxiety attack next to her. "We'll be right behind you." I nodded and smiled.

"Thank you." I said.

"Anytime. Guys, Jenna's going ahead." Max called behind us. Iggy sped up so he was beside me.

"Be careful." He whispered and grabbed my hand.

"I will." I replied in a shaky voice.

"Promise me." He whispered.

"Promise." I whispered.

"Good." He clearly did not want me leaving the safety of the flock. I slowed down so that I was beside Nudge.

"Hey, I need my dog." I whispered to her. She slowly handed Moe to me. "Thanks." I smiled a very fake smile.

"Stay safe." She said quietly.

"Always do." I said and then looked over at Fang.

"Don't die." He said and looked sad.

"I'll try not too." I smiled yet another fake smile. I looked over at Ari. He looked like this was really hard for him. He just nodded at me. I smiled at him and looked at Angel and Gazzy and smiled at them too. I flew back to where Max and Iggy were. "Alright, I'll meet you guys at Dr. Martinez's house." I said sadly. Truth was, I didn't want to leave. But I had to get to Ella and her mom.

"Good luck." Max said her tone matched mine.

"Bye." I said to Iggy and Max.

"Bye." They both said robotically. I waved behind me and then shot off like a bullet. I don't know how fast I was going or how long I was flying but after what seemed like an eternity, I squinted through the darkness and saw my old town below me. I landed and took off running toward Ella's house. It came into focus in the next few minutes just as it started drizzling. I saw a car I didn't recognize in the driveway. I shrugged it off and went to her bedrooms window and hoped the she was alone, which she was. She sat on her bed with a laptop in her lap. Being me, I picked up a pebble and tossed it at her window even though I could've just knocked. She looked up and her eyes widened. Oh, yeah…

She thought I was dead…

I probably just gave her a mini-heart attack… She dashed to the window and opened it.

"Jenna? Jenna Parker? Y-you're alive? H-how? They said-" Ella exclaimed.

"Ella, shh… I need no one to know I'm here." I whispered. She nodded and held Moe while I climbed in her window. "Max and everyone are on there way here right now."

"Why?" She whispered.

"Ella, who's here right now?" I whispered.

"Some investment lady from some firm." She said. "Why?" She asked again.

"I need to see her." I replied.

"Why?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Where is she?" I asked.

"In the dining room. Why are you dodging all of my questions?" She pried.

"I'll answer all your questions plus some if my suspicions come back true." I replied and crept out of Ella's room with her on my heels. I silently made my way to the kitchen and then the dining room. With my back pressed against the wall, I peeked my head into the dining room. I quickly snapped my head back. My suspicions were true. There, sitting at the dining room table with Dr. Martinez, was a disguised Marianne. Her brown hair had been pulled back into a bun and she had on librarian glasses and a blue business suit with a skirt.

"Shit." I breathed.

"What?" Ella asked.

"Ella, are you in the kitchen?" Dr. Martinez called. Ella looked at me for an answer. I nodded.

"Yeah, mom." Ella replied.

"Whom were you just talking to?" She asked.

"Myself." She replied.

"Oh, well, have fun with that." She called, and then her and Marianne went back to talking. I grabbed Ella's arm and towed her back into her room. Moe was sitting in the middle of the floor waiting for us.

"That was Marianne with your mom in there." I hissed.

"Your protector thingy? Isn't that a good thing? Doesn't she… protect?" Ella whispered.

"It would be good, if she hadn't betrayed me and joined the Mogs." I replied. Her eyes widened.

"Mogs? As in Mogadorians? As in the things trying to kill you?" She asked.

"Those are the ones." I replied.

"Why are they here?" She screamed frantically.

"Ella, are you okay?" Her mom called again from the dining room. Ella looked to scared to speak. She opened her mouth and a loud screech came out. I whipped my hand over her mouth and covered it.

"Yeah mom, I'm fine." I said in a voice that nearly matched Ella's. Ella's eyes widened.

"Okay, honey." Dr. Martinez replied skeptically. I turned to Ella.

"Ella, Ella relax. I promise that I'm not going to let anything happen to you or your mom." I said looking straight into her eyes. "I will protect you." I said slowly. "Now, I'm going to go keep watch on Marianne. You stay here and pet Moe." I reached into my backpack and pulled out my gun. "Any non-human, except mo of course, shoot them. Squeeze the trigger, don't pull." I instructed and handed the weapon to Ella. She nodded. "Breathe. You're going to be fine." I told her and pulled out my knife then did a 180 and tiptoed silently out of her room. I went into the kitchen and slid against the wall. I listened to their conversation; Marianne was faking being an accountant or something. She was pretty good at it; I had to admit. I covered the calming blue glow so Marianne wouldn't pick up on me being here. I focused on just Marianne's mind.

'Where are they? They should be here by now.' Her frantic mind snapped. 'I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. It's times like this when I miss Jenna. Lying always was so much easier for her. I'm supposed to subdue these humans before they get here. Problem is, I don't know when they're getting here!'

"Ms. Mayweather, are you paying attention?" Dr. Martinez cut through Marianne's thoughts. She used our old last name… How should I feel about that?

"Of course Dr. Martinez." She replied. 'I'll just do it now.' She thought. "Actually Dr. Martinez," She began. I heard her reach into a bag.

"What is that? Is that a gun?" Dr. Martinez exclaimed.

"It is. I need you and your daughter to go into the living room and sit on your couch. Now." Marianne snapped.

"Ella, come into the living room, now." Dr. Martinez called in a shaky voice.

"Why?" Ella replied from in her room.

"Just do it!" Dr. Martinez snapped.

"Whatever." Ella replied and came out of her room. I put up my hand to stop her. She stopped in the hallway. I motioned for her to get the gun ready and for her to stay where she was. She froze obediently.

"Coming, mom." I called in my Ella voice. I walked through the doorway into the dining room just as Marianne and Dr. Martinez were getting up to leave the kitchen. Both of their backs were to me.

"Hurry up!" Dr. Martinez called.

"Now, now, Marianne." I hissed. "Put that away before someone gets hurt." I continued as Marianne stiffened at the sound of my voice.

"Jenna? Jenna Parker?" Dr. Martinez whirled around to see me.

"Hello Dr. Martinez." I replied. Marianne reluctantly turned to face me. "Hello, mother." I hissed at Marianne.

"Wait, Marianne Parker?" Dr. Martinez looked at Marianne.

"Jenna. What are you doing here?" Marianne muttered with false confidence.

"Strange, I was about to ask you that same, exact question." I replied crossing my arms at my chest, knife in hand.

"You shouldn't be here." She murmured.

"Neither should you." I replied. We were staring each other down. In my opinion, I was winning.

"Jenna, you're in danger." Marianne said.

"As are you. You think I'd come alone?" I lied. I did come alone…

"You mean, the other numbers?" She breathed.

"Maybe, maybe not." Maybe not. "You and your friends want to take that chance?" I pried. Oh, yeah. My plan was working. Marianne's mind was full of questions.

"You're lying." Marianne said after a few minutes.

"Am I?" I stared her down. "I guess I could be lying. Or five other Loric's could be right outside awaiting my signal." I continued. "Your call on what you want to believe." I snickered. Dr. Martinez was looking from Marianne to Marianne's gun, then to me to my long, glowing dagger. She must've thought we were such a loving, stable family! Marianne looked pissed! I wanted to burst out laughing, I really did. Her eyes were locked on mine, burning holes in my skull. Intimidation was always her specialty, but I wasn't falling for it again. Not this time.

These were my friends, and they needed me right now.

Marianne's ragged, uneven breathing ripped through her body in waves. Her gaze was full of not only rage, but also sadness. I keep forgetting that Marianne wasn't actually evil. She still loved me; her eyes said it all. I heard car doors slam in the driveway.

"Jenna, if you know what's good for you, you will get yourself out of here right now." Marianne said quickly.

"Not without my friends." I snapped.

"Jenna, listen to me!" She screamed.

"Why should I?" I screamed right back.

"Because this is a trap!" Marianne snapped as the door flew open and Mogs flooded inside.

I heard Ella shriek. Oh shit.

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**Thank you kidddies for reading my story so far! Now give me feedback! Lovezzzzzz youuuuuuuu! :) **


	11. Chapter 11

Ella.

I ripped my much wider eyes away from Marianne. What was happening? My heart was racing; I had to get to Ella. I stepped out of the dining room just in time to see a Mog go up in dust. I turned my head slowly to see Ella on the ground in the corner, the gun up with her finger on the trigger. My stunned gaze met her bulging eyes. I shook my head and blinked a few times.

"Good! Now keep doing that!" I said to her when I regained my wits. I stepped forward and picked up the gun the Mog Ella took out had been holding. "Stay calm and remember what I told you." I said and cocked the gun. She nodded and I helped her to her feet.

"Let's roll." She said with a little too much enthusiasm. I nodded.

"Moe! Let's go!" I screamed and Moe came bolting out of Ella's room, morphing along the way. She pounced on a Mog and dragged him outside. I shot at a Mog that was trying to drag Dr. Martinez outside. I missed and blew a small hole in the wall.

Whoops…

The Mog noticed and put his back to me dragging Dr. Martinez in front of him. He pointed his gun and took a shot at Ella and I. I pushed Ella behind the couch and ducked behind it as well. It exploded against the fridge leaving a huge, dark burn mark across its surface.

"Get away from my mother!" Ella shrieked and stood up. I heard several shots fire from her gun before I could even stand up. When I was on my feet, I saw no Mogs in the living room. Taking their places, I saw several piles of ashes.

Wow…

Ella was better at this than I was… We exchanged glances. I gave her a small smile before we both scrambled to Dr. Martinez's sides.

"Mom! Mom, look at me!" Ella said grabbing her mother's hands. Dr. Martinez sat there petrified in the middle of the floor.

"Ella, take her to her room. Meet me outside once she's calm." I told Ella. She nodded and we helped Dr. Martinez to her feet. "Oh and Ella," I began. She turned to face me. "Take the bigger gun, just in case." I finished and handed her the Mog's gun and she nodded again. She handed me my gun and then led her stunned mother into her bedroom. I cocked my gun and went outside. Mogs were advancing on Moe. I shot at one to get their attention off of my much larger dog. That got their attention… I ended up hitting one. He exploded into dust. The Mogs then turned their guns on me. I dodged a few shots and dodge rolled behind a tree. I heard a Mog sneaking up to the tree. I waited until he was about to grab me before I clutched his arm and flipped him onto the ground. I plunged my knife into his chest. He looked me in the eyes right before turning into a cloud of dust under my hands. For once, I felt remorse for what I had just done to a Mogadorian; I looked into his eyes…

I sighed and climbed back to my feet and I re-sheathed my knife, I should stick to shooting. I took a deep breath and stepped out from the tree's cover. Mogs instantly rushed me and I parkour'd it up. I disarmed a forth Mog and delivered another fatal blow to his chest before something hard rammed into my side knocking me to the ground. I reached for my gun, which had slide away from me. I grabbed the handle before a foot slammed into my wrist. I released the gun and the same foot kicked the gun far away from me. I looked to see a gun pointed in my face, and holding said gun was none other than Marianne.

"Do it." I provoked.

"Move and I will." Marianne snapped.

"Jenna?" I heard Max's voice say from across the yard. The flock and Ari had just arrived. I heard a gun cock in the doorway of Ella's house. I shot a glance back to see Ella pointing the gun at Marianne. "Ella?" Max gasped. She must have seen the large gun in her hands.

"Ella, let Marianne have this one." I winked at Ella. "Max, guys, stay where you are." I glanced at the flock. Then I turned my gaze on Marianne. "Are you going to shoot me?" I asked rising slowly to my feet.

"I said don't move!" Marianne snapped. The barrel of the gun followed we as I rose.

"C'mon, shoot! I'll even make it easier for you." I growled and stepped closer to Marianne making her shooting range nearly pointblank on my face. Her hands were trembling.

"Why would I do that? I would just die in your place!" She screamed.

"Even If you could take me down, I doubt you could. I mean, I don't think I'd ever be able to hurt you; even after all you've done to me." I whispered. Her eyes widened. "Marianne, you're not evil." I said and lowered the gun to her side so I was looking her in the face instead of starring down the barrel of her gun. "You're not a Mogadorian, you're Loric, like me." I whispered. Tears were welling in Marianne's eyes. 'I love you, Marianne.' I sent the thought to Marianne's mind. Marianne opened her mouth to say something but snapped it shut before sound came out.

"Enough!" The Mog leader snapped. "Let's retreat for now. We'll regroup then make Nine pay!" He screamed. He was holding his arm that I had cut open with my knife. The Mogs standing around all nodded and began backing away slowly to their cars. Marianne kept her eyes locked on me. "Marianne!" The leader shrieked at her. She blinked a few times and the broke our eye contact and crept away. Everyone waited until they were gone to move. As soon as the last car was out of sight, everyone crowded around me. I breathed out sharply.

"Let's get her inside." Max told everyone and they all guided me inside. They led my trembling body to the couch and made me sit down. Ella sat next to me and Iggy sat on my other side. Marianne just leaving me there played on loop in my head. Maybe she was really gone… Too far gone to be brought back… Marianne… My mother on Earth was really gone…

I sniffled once and then the tears starting pouring from my eyes. Sobs began violently ripping through my chest. I buried my face in my hands and shoved my hands into my lap. I hated this, the constant running, the fighting. I longed for nothing more then to just be human and not know that this was happening. I'd give anything. I felt a hand running up and down my back. I opened my eyes and peeked up to see Ari's remorseful eyes looking me in the face. My heart began racing and I started bawling my eyes out into my hands again.

"What should we do?" I heard Fang whisper to Max. "Should we stay here tonight?" He added.

"Yeah. My mom will demand explanations and we could all use a good nights sleep for once. Iggy, go cook something. Ella, and I will check on mom. Fang, Nudge, Gaz and Angel, try to clean up this house. Ari stay with Jenna to make sure she's okay." Max ordered. Everyone must've agreed because I felt Iggy lean down and kiss my head and then he and Ella got up. I felt everyone leave the living room leaving me alone with Ari.

"Hey." He whispered. I felt him sit on the couch next to me.

"Hey." I said in a very muffled, cracked, broken voice.

"Cheer up, the fights over. We're all safe." He said in a calming voice and continued stroking my back. I sniffled. "What?" He mumbled.

"That lady holding the gun to my face was technically my mom." I said as a sob stabbed its way through my body.

"Technically?" He asked.

"She's my Cêpan, a warrior from my planet assigned to keep me alive; or at least was. She's had me since I was eight days old though. She's more of my mother than my real mother that died on Lorien." I explained as I sat up. I hated being so vulnerable like I was right now.

"Wow… That's harsh…" He whispered and handed me the box of Kleenex that had been knocked on the ground during the massive fight. I pulled one out and dabbed my eyes. I sniffled again and tore out another one. "Relax." Ari said and pulled me into a hug, a big, wolfy hug. He pulled me hard against his rock hard chest; he was way more muscular than Iggy was… "Jenna, breathe." He said when he realized I wasn't breathing. I sucked in a deep breath and held it inside of me. "Good, now breath out." He said into my hair. I let the air out through my mouth. "Good." He whispered after I started breathing regularly. He held me against his chest. This oddly felt right… My eyes slowly dried and Ari released me when I stopped sobbing.

"You good now?" He whispered looking me straight in the eyes. I nodded gravely and stood up and then plopped back down. I didn't know if I wanted to sit or stand. I heard footsteps approaching though. Ari and I looked up to see Max-supporting Ella in the entryway. She was trembling. "What's up with her?" Ari asked.

"I-I k-killed some of t-them…" Ella whimpered. What had happened just hit her like a speeding train.

"That." Max replied. "Jenna, will you talk to her? My mom is hysterical." I nodded and scrambled over to them and took Ella's arm and led her to my spot on the couch next to Ari. "Thank you." Max gave us a small smile and turned and walked out.

"Ella, look at me." I said and knelt down in front of her. I waited until her bulging eyes met mine. "The Mogadorians you killed probably would've tormented hundreds or even thousands of innocent people including your mother and you. Think about it like this, you probably saved more lives than you ended." I said in a gentle, patient tone. She blinked a few times and shook her head. "Ella, you saved your life today. In any case, this was all self-defense." I added. Her eyes lightened up a little. "Relax." I beamed at her. "You're an amazing person and I know you feel bad now. The first time I took out a Mog was in Japan, five years ago. Marianne," I winced at her name. "And I were at a restaurant with my sister and her Cêpan and they were discussing things. I, being to young to understand, just sat there playing with the gun my sister carried. Mogs rushed the place. One targeted me and threw me onto the ground. I crawled into the corner, trying to get away. My attacker began mocking me and I let my anger get the best of me. I pointed the gun and shot the Mog and it hit him directly in the head. He exploded into a ball of dust. Everyone was so surprised that an eleven year-old girl was able to take one down. I was over whelmed by guilt and fear. Marianne and my sister spent hours trying to calm me down, but I wouldn't budge. Point is, I understand that only time can calm your feelings. Trust me, I know." I said quietly. Ella gave me a small smile.

"Yeah, you're right." She smiled bigger. "I'm going to go back to my mom now, she needs me." Her smile faded.

"Go." I smiled. "Family is important." She nodded and left.

"Wow. You're quite the pep talker." Ari snickered.

"It's just the truth." I yawned and sat down next to him. I suddenly felt very tired, like, I couldn't even support my own weight.

"Go to sleep. I'll wake you up when there's food." He said gently as I leaned heavily against him on accident.

"Okay." I murmured with my eyes already more then half shut. I passed out in the next second.

"Jenna, hey, wake up." I felt a large hand on my side shaking me gently.

"I don't want to go to school." I moaned into something soft.

"Okay, how about instead of school, we go eat?" The same voice replied in a calming tone.

"Huh?" I opened my eyes to see Ari's hand on my side. He had turned so he was lying on the couch with me lying on his chest. I looked at his face and yawned.

"Well, good morning." He snickered.

"How long have I been out?" I said sitting up.

"About an hour." He sat up too. "Iggy just called us all in for food." He smiled.

"Sweet! I am starving!" I exclaimed and got up.

"Slow down!" Ari snickered.

"Never!" I replied and was out of the room.

I made my way into the dining room and saw everyone arriving at the same time.

"Hey." Iggy smiled and leaned in and pecked my lips… right in front of everyone… Can you say awkward?

"Hey." I replied with a shy smile.

'Touch her again, I dare you.' Ari's mind growled and he just entered the room and saw that happen. His eyes were daggers.

'Iggy likes Jenna now? What does she have that I don't have?' I looked over to see Ella glaring at me. 'Oh… I forgot you could read minds…' She thought awkwardly when we made eye contact. I nodded once at her with an awkward, little baby smile plastered on my lips.

'When are you going to tell him?' Max thought to me.

'Soon.' I replied mentally.

'Tell him what?' Angel butted in.

'Nothing!' Max and I thought at the same time. Then we all sat down to eat. Dr. Martinez was eye balling me the entire time. She was going to ask me what I was… Eventually… No one talked… Everyone just silently ate. I refused to look at everyone. Ari glared at Iggy the entire time, Max and Fang held hands under the table, Nudge and Gazzy quietly fought over the last piece of chicken, Angel glared at me; she was trying to read my mind. I could hear her concentrating in her head. Ella also glared at me… She was pissed at Iggy and I and kept forgetting that I could read minds. Ahh… Good times… Everyone finished eating and just continued sitting at the table… And just when I though this couldn't get any more awkward…

"So…" Max spoke up. "Mom, can we all spend the night?" She asked.

"Sure." Dr. Martinez muttered. Her expression looked vacant…

"Alright. Everyone just go to bed." Max said after that. Her and Ella helped Dr. Martinez to her room. Everyone looked tense enough. Max and Ella returned two minutes later.

"Where're we all sleeping?" Iggy asked.

"Us in our rooms, Ari on the couch, and Jenna… bunk with Iggy or something." Max replied. Ella glared at Max then at me. "Ella, just go to bed." Max snapped when she noticed. Ella reluctantly walked off. "Night guys." Max yawned and walked off.

"Night." Everyone muttered and left. Before Iggy and I walked off, Ari grabbed my arm.

"Night, Jenna." He whispered and pulled me into a tight hug.

"Night, Ari." I replied with false confidence. I didn't know what to do… Iggy slide his arm around my waist after Ari released me; he looked annoyed…

"Night, Ari." Iggy growled.

"Night, Iggy." Ari hissed. Iggy led me to his room then. He opened the door and flicked on the light. It was plain and comfy. I approve…

"You care if we share my bed?" Iggy asked.

"Nah, I don't care." I smiled.

"Okay." He smiled and shut the door. I went to his bed and laid down. "You want to borrow some pajamas or something?" He asked.

"Sure." I yawned and sat up. He walked over to his dresser and pulled out a pair of sweatpants and a comfy looking shirt.

"I think these will fit you." He said and handed them to me. Then he pulled out some clothes for himself. "I'm going to change in the corner. Don't look." He snickered.

"No promises." I chuckled. I took my sweet time changing my clothes; I didn't have to worry about Iggy peeping. After I was done, I crawled under the covers. Iggy flicked the light off and joined me a few seconds later. I didn't know if I should cuddle against him or not… I mean I still confused about Ari…

"Night, Jenna." Iggy smiled and kissed my head.

"Night." I muttered groggily and my eyes fluttered close.

Oh, no, not again. I was floating… It was daytime this time. I heard the revving of motorcycle. I turned around to see three familiar figures and a dog. Was this another vision?

"Where do we start?" The Aussie girl spoke up as she straddled her red crotch rocket.

"I doubt she's still in Arizona. But wherever she is, she's very good at staying under the radar." The blond guy replied.

"What do you expect? She is my sister after all." The girl snarled. Sister?

"Six, calm down. I know you want to find her, and we will. But it's going to take time." Blonde replied. Six? Sister? I'm Six's sister! They were talking about me, guys! Wait… They were talking about me…

"Lead the way." Her accented voice hissed. And everything faded away again.

I shot up in bed, my heart racing. My breathing was ragged and uneven. I looked at the clock: 6:00 a.m. I had only been sleeping for three hours. I dashed to the bathroom and splashed cold water in my face to calm myself down. When I realized it wasn't working, I sank down to the ground, my back against the counter. Six was looking for me? My sister was looking for me? Why? Why me? Why not Eight? Or Five? Or Seven? Why Nine? Why me? My hands were trembling, my whole body was. I was scared… There I said it. I, Number Nine, am scared. Scared of the Mogs. Scared of the school. Scared of not knowing what comes next or what to do. Ah! What do I do now? Whatever these visions were, they always left me in a panicked, sick, nervous frenzy. I-I think I'm goi- I turned quickly and emptied the contents of my stomach into the toilet. Great. Just perfect.

"Jenna? Are you okay?" I heard a shaky voice after a quiet tapping on the door. I couldn't tell who it was.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said in a voice that was barely even a whisper. I whipped my mouth on my arm. Let me tell you, not my best idea… I heard the door creak open slowly. I glanced over to see Ari in the doorway. "Go away, you don't need to see this." I looked away from him. He rushed silently to my side, lifted me off the ground, and carried my to the couch. He laid me down then went back to the bathroom. He was back in two seconds and kneeled down next to my head and slowly began stroking my hair. "Why aren't you sleeping?" I said in my sick voice.

"Too many things on my mind." He replied.

"Oh." I replied quietly. Then we were quiet for a little while. I listened to his breathing and tried to match it. I closed my eyes and focused on breathing. I relaxed after a few minutes and then opened my eyes to see Ari's concerned gaze still locked on me. "I think I'm okay now." I whispered and sat up on the couch. I rubbed my eyes. My throat and nose burned from puking and I was still really tired. "Wow… I probably smell like throw up..." I whispered.

"You smell fine." He replied and sat next to me.

"Sure I do." I muttered. Ari sighed.

"Want to go back to sleep," He clenched his teeth. "In Iggy's room?"

"Not really. I feel like doing something." I sighed. "Want to go for a early morning stroll?" I asked. My eyes turned hopeful.

"Sure." He smiled.

"Okay!" I beamed. "I'm going grab some gum first…" I said and got up. "Wait for me outside." I said and slipped back into Iggy's room where my backpack was and found the gum I had from like two months ago, totally worth it. I unwrapped it and shut it in my mouth and tiptoed out. I met Ari outside.

"Hey." He smiled when he saw me.

"Hello!" I beamed.

"Where we going?" Ari asked as we started walking.

"Anywhere. I just wanted to get out for while." I replied.

"That's fine with me." He replied.

"Good." I smiled. "So, what's on your mind? Why couldn't you sleep?"

"Honestly? Or sugarcoated?" He replied gravely.

"Honestly." My eyes narrowed.

"I can't think of what you see in Iggy. I'm constantly racking my brain trying to find out why everyday." He said gravely.

"Oh." My face fell.

"Yeah." He replied. We walked in silence the next few minutes. The sun was just creeping its way over the horizon. We stopped to rest for a few minutes before heading back. I decided to climb a tree. Why not? I leaped up and grabbed a branch and pulled myself up. "What are you doing?" Ari snickered.

"Nothing." I replied and crawled out on a limp until I was hanging over Ari.

"You're going to fall." He said looking up. I wrapped my legs around the branch and hung down so Ari's and my faces were parallel.

"Want to bet?" I smiled. I held my shirt down with my hands. Ari smiled at me. I turned my head for a second and then looked back and realized how close our faces actually were to each other. Our eyes locked. Ari's hands cupped my upside down face and guided our lips together. My eyes closed. I let one hand drop and put it on his cheek. I pushed him away for a brief second, just long enough for me to flip off of the branch. Then, his lips crushed against mine once more. He pushed me against a tree and ran his hands down my sides until he reached my waist. I tangled one of my hands in his hair and ran my other hand down his muscular chest. He had abs…

Me likey…

Thoughts rushed through my head as Ari and I continued kissing. Some were of Iggy and how this was betraying him, while others were about how this felt exactly right. Ari pulled me closer to his chest. Our mouths moved together, un-breaking, bonded. I felt warm air escaping from Ari's nose. Oh, yeah… Breathing… I forgot that existed…

"Jenna, breathe." Ari whispered breaking our contact for only a brief second. He must have noticed I wasn't breathing… I sucked in huge gasp of air through my nose for the first time in like two minutes. "Good girl." He smiled and tilted his head the other way and then I felt his grinning lips back on mine. My heart was racing faster then ever before… What if I didn't really love Iggy? What if I loved Ari? Ari… The man I had my face all over right now… Probably should've thought this through before… Maybe we should stop… No, I like this… Wait, do I? I don't freaking know! What should I do? I hate deciding things!

"Ah-hem." I heard a throat clear. My eyes flew open in shock. My jaw dropped when I saw Max leaning against a tree, her arms crossed at her chest. I shoved Ari away as I thought of what Max was going to say or do next.

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**Hey guys! Sorry this chapter took so long... I've been really busy with school and crap like that. Welp... Hope you liked it. :)**


	12. Chapter 12

"Hey sis… How uh-" Ari cleared his throat. "How l-long have you been there?" Ari stammered.

"Long enough." Max snapped at him.

"H-how did you find us?" Ari asked after a few minutes of awkward silence.

"I got up and saw you weren't on the couch. Then, I checked Iggy's room and Jenna wasn't there. I assumed you two were together, so I came out here and flew around until I found you." Max replied her eyes locked on Ari. Well… This sure was awkward… She turned her gaze on me. I immediately turned bright red and looked down. "Jenna, can I talk to you, alone?" Max shot at me. I nodded and we left Ari leaning against a tree. Max and I walked for a few minutes before either of us said anything. She finally turned to me. "Jenna, what was that?" Max whispered. I looked up expecting to see furious eyes but was shocked when her gaze was understanding and patient.

"I don't know." I replied in such a quiet voice that even I could barely hear.

"Relax. Talk to me. I'm not going to tell anyone. I just want to know what's going on between you, Iggy and Ari." She told me.

"I don't even know!" I snapped. "I thought I loved Iggy… But then Ari happened… I'm supposed to only be able to fall in love once! I am so freaking confused!" I slumped down to the ground.

"For one, you're young. It took a while for me to realize that I loved Fang. And second, you truly have a lot going on right now… What with the find your entire race and save the world thing… Trust me, I know how hard this is." She sat down next to me. "Iggy just wants you to be happy, even if that means you end up with Ari. Sure, he will fight for you, but he wants you happy in the end." Max finished. She threw her arm around my shoulder. "We should go back." I nodded. I was furious with myself. I shouldn't of let myself fall for anyone in the first place! Love is just a distraction. Max helped me up and we went back to Ari who was still perfectly perched against a tree. He looked really freaking hot. Damn it, Jenna! Stop it! I shook my head. Ari's eyes narrowed but he smiled when he saw me. I smiled shyly but stayed next to Max. Ari followed behind us as we began our flight back. Yes, I know Ari and I walked to where we were but flying was quicker and I was really tired… Dawn was just beginning to make it's way across the horizon as we returned to the house. I didn't say a word on the way home. Max and Ari just argued about something pointless. "Now, both of you go to sleep. Jenna, you should probably go back to Iggy's room so no one gets suspicious." Max said as we landed.

"Okay." Ari hissed with his teeth clenched. He was not happy about me going back to sleep with Iggy… I nodded. "Night, Jenna." Ari whispered and pulled me into a hug.

"Night." I replied almost silently. I made my way back into Iggy's room and I crawled my way into his bed feeling as guilty as ever. I sighed as I closed my eyes and waited for sleep to engulf me.

After about two hours of sleeplessness, I felt Iggy stir beside me. I squeezed my eyes closed and pretended to be asleep as I felt him sit up and stretch. I felt him turn to me, as he was about to get up. He kissed my forehead then almost silently got up and crept out of the room. I sat up once he was gone and sighed. Guilt slowly stabbed its way through my gut as I curled into a tight ball and tipped myself over. I fell asleep like that in about three minutes.

I awoke sometime later to the smell of pancakes cooking. My empty stomach made my mouth water at their smell. I decided to sit up. I heard the door creak open just as I began to stretch.

"You up?" I heard Ari's voice whisper.

"Yeah." I replied through a yawn.

"Nice hair." He snickered. All the tossing and turning I did instead of sleeping last night really took a toll on my hair…

"Don't look at it!" I snapped quietly and ran my fingers through the knotty mess on top of my head.

"No, don't worry. It's cute." He smiled a smile that made his face light up causing me to immediately blushed and looked away.

"Thanks." I smiled shyly and nervously brushed a clump of hair out of my face.

"Anyway, get up. Iggy and Ella are making food. Max is sure Dr. M is going to have questions for all of us to answer now that she's out of shock." Ari said. I groaned and buried my face in one of Iggy's pillows. "What?" Ari asked.

"Nothing. I'll be out in a few minutes." I said in a muffled voice.

"Okay." Ari sighed. "Don't fall back asleep." He added then turned and left. I got up a few minutes later and fixed my rats' nest I call hair. After it was flattened, I left the room. I heard giggling from in the kitchen. I glanced around the wall to see Ella and Iggy cooking together totally flirting it up… How should I feel about this? Jealous? Furious? Probably… But instead I felt almost… relieved… I can honestly say, I hate being a teenager…

I sighed and entered the kitchen.

"Hey." I said quietly.

"Oh, hey, Jenna." Iggy said kind of awkwardly.

"Good morning…" Ella said through a deep blush. I shrugged and crossed the room into the living room where everyone else in the house was.

"Good morning, everyone." I said when I noticed everyone's eyes on me. I heard multiple hellos, one hey, and a good morning as I made my way to the couch and plopped down next to Nudge. Dr. Martinez was seated across the room in an armchair watching me precariously. I nodded and smiled awkwardly at her.

"Jenna…" She said as though she was still shocked. "Everyone said you were killed in that fire…"

"Yeah… I heard about that…" I replied.

"How… How did you get away? Where did you go?" She breathed.

"Let me just start from the beginning…" I replied. Dr. Martinez nodded and I sighed, as I was about to tell my story to yet another human… "Well, I'm just going to come right out and say it… I'm an alien born on a small planet in between Earth and Mars." I began. Dr. Martinez's mouth dropped and shockingly, so did Ari's… Oh yeah… I never actually told him my story… He just sort of went along with everything… I sighed again and continued. "When I was eight days old, Marianne was assigned to protect me and we, along with eight other children with their protectors, were place on an Earth-bound ship and it took off for this planet. About a year later, we arrived on this planet and separated. We all had one goal, to prevent what happened to our planet to repeat itself on this planet." I paused. Everyone was looking at me… I felt like I was presenting a speech to a class or something… It was making me nervous…

"What actually happened to your planet?" Max asked. Dr. Martinez shot a disapproving glance at Max for believing me so quickly; but Max had already heard all this before.

"Well, the Mogadorians, the big, rude, ugly things that attacked here yesterday, attacked it and destroyed it." I swallowed hard. This next part was a tearjerker. "My parents were warriors. They gave their lives for me..." My voice broke. "And the others…" I sniffled. "We're here to stop them." I fidgeted on the couch. "But first we need to find each other." I finished. "And that's pretty much who I am and why I'm here." I looked up at Dr. Martinez. Her eyes were wide and disbelieving.

'Could this really be true?' She thought. I sighed.

"Yes, Dr. Martinez. It's all unfortunately true." I droned as I turned my gaze to the floor.

"You can read minds too?" She breathed. I nodded gravely. "Why was Marianne holding a gun to your head?" She asked after a few seconds of compression. My fists clenched.

"She betrayed us all." I said sadly.

"Oh, I'm sorry for asking…" She replied.

"Nah, it's fine. You deserve to know the truth." I smiled shyly at her. She nodded and returned my smile with a similar one.

"Foods ready!" Ella called from in the kitchen.

"Sweet, I'm starving!" Fang exclaimed as he jumped up and dashed to the dining room. Everyone made his or her way slowly to the dining room except me. I was still sitting on the couch. Ari was just about to leave the room when he noticed I hadn't moved.

"Hey, you okay?" He whispered as he turned to me.

"Yeah." I replied in a quiet voice. Telling my story made me realize I really miss Marianne.

"Okay, now tell me what's wrong." He said and sat down next to me on the couch.

"I'm fine, Ari. Really." I replied.

"Jenna, tell me." He insisted. He pulled me closer to him.

"I just miss Marianne more then I thought I did, that's all." I whispered. I didn't want anyone to know how weak I was for missing my 'mommy'.

"You grew up with her. It's perfectly fine to miss her." He replied as he coiled his arm around my waist and pulled me into a tight hug resting his chin on my head.

"I just feel so weak. Me, an alien with special powers, crying over the loss of my protector." I said into his chest.

"You're not weak, you kicked my ass remember?" He snickered into my hair.

"And I'd do it again if provoked, remember that." I giggled as he released me.

"I thought you were human and went easy on you." He replied defensively.

"Sure, you keep telling yourself that." I smiled.

"I got you to smile." Ari smirked at me.

"That's not very hard to do." I joked.

"Yeah, but a minute ago you were about to cry." He snickered.

"Thank you." I beamed at him.

"You don't have to thank me." He replied with a look in his eye that almost made me melt.

"Still." I squeezed his bulky hand.

"Jenna, Ari! Come eat!" Max snapped through a mouthful of food from in the dining room.

"Coming!" I sang and pranced my way into the dining room. I heard Ari snicker as he watched me do my prancing.

After we all finished eating, Ella and Iggy kept like playing footsie under the table the entire time, we were all showering and preparing to leave. Dr. Martinez was washing my clothes so after I showered I had on a pair of shorts and a shirt that Nudge let me borrow. I probably should've asked to borrow from Max or Ella because Nudge's clothes were a little too… showy… for me. I was lounging on the couch when Ari walked in the room. I was poking at the scar on my left leg that stretched from about my lower thigh to about halfway down my knee that I got from when my house burned down in this town all those weeks ago now.

"Hey." Ari said quietly.

"Hey." I replied not looking up from my leg.

"Move your legs." Ari snickered.

"Oh. My bad." I giggled as I realized that I was taking up the entire couch. I lifted my legs up high enough so Ari could shimmy under them and then I used his lap as a footrest. I felt his fingers graze over the scars on my right leg. I looked to see him gazing at them. "Every time one of the numbers die, the rest of us get a scar." I explained as I looked back to my bigger scar. I have way to many scars…

"So three of them are dead?" Ari asked still looking at the three scars.

"Yeah." I muttered.

"Oh, so there's six of you left?" He asked again.

"Yes sir." I replied.

"What are you doing?" He asked. I looked up to see him looking at me poking at my scar.

"Just… playing… with my scar…" I replied awkwardly.

"Why?" He snickered.

"I'm not used to seeing it. I like never wear shorts this short." I smiled.

"Cute." He smiled.

"Of course I am." I giggled.

"Jenna, your clothes are dry." Dr. Martinez called.

"Thank you!" I replied and got up to get them. "Be right back." I told Ari as I dashed out of the room.

"I'll be here." He smiled and I was out of the room. I got my clothes and went to Nudge's room to change. She was sitting on her bed watching videos on Ella's laptop. Where was Ella? I hadn't seen her since breakfast… Oh well.

"Hey, just changing quickly." I told Nudge and striped out of her clothes and back into mine.

"You have fun with that." She said without looking up.

"Oh, I did." I winked at her and pranced out of her room. What? I'm in a really good mood right now. Is that illegal? I pranced my way passed Iggy's room and heard him and Ella talking quietly… Huh? Should I listen? Of course! I leaned up against the wall where Ella couldn't see me and secretly listened to their conversation.

"Should we tell them?" Ella asked Iggy.

"I really don't want to hurt Jenna. This is exactly what she was afraid of in the first place." Iggy replied. I raised an eyebrow.

"I feel bad too, but should we lie to her?" Ella asked.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's tell her alone and then everyone else after we know Jenna's okay with it and not going to flip out or anything. We've seen her lose control before. She nearly killed Ari." Iggy replied. I winced as I remembered what I had done.

"When are you all leaving?" Ella asked. Her eyes were wide in a mixture of shock and fear.

"Sometime today so we got to make this fast." Iggy replied.

"Want to tell Jenna now?"

"We probably should." Iggy admitted.

"Let's go." Ella said and I heard them both get up.

"Wait," Iggy said before they began walking out.

"What?" Ella asked. Then, Iggy pulled into a tight hug, much like the ones that he pulled me into a short time ago. And after that, they shared a long, passionate kiss, and my mind was blown. I silently ran away. Well, silently up until I ran face first into a wall, which actually was quite loud. I needed to get out of here before Iggy and Ella found out I was listening. I dashed passed to living room and out the door. I ran for a little while and then I heard footsteps approaching me. I didn't want anyone to know that I was upset or why I was upset. I flew up into a tree onto a branch and hid among the leaves.

"Jenna, I know you're up there." I heard Ari's voice call up the tree. "Come down." He said after a few minutes of no response. "Alright then, I'm coming up." And then he was next to me in the tree. "Jenna, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. I don't want to talk about it." I replied as I crossed my arms at my chest.

"C'mon, tell me." He urged as he poked my shoulder repeatedly.

"Ari! Stop it!" I couldn't help but snicker.

"Tell me what's wrong." He smirked.

"It's awkward to talk to you about." I said solemnly.

"Jenna, you know you can talk to me about anything, right?" He replied, his face was totally serious.

"It's about Iggy. He and Ella are back together and I saw them kiss." I replied.

"Are you upset about that, or mad?" He asked.

"Well, I mean, I can't really get mad because we've been kissing behind his back, but I guess I'm just kind of upset that his feelings for me changed that quickly." I replied. I slowly turned my gaze on his eyes. They were strange, angry even. Was he mad at me for bringing this up? "Are you okay?" I asked him.

"Iggy hurt you. That pisses me off." He growled.

"But you didn't want us together in the first place. Shouldn't it make you happy that he doesn't want anything to do with me anymore?" I replied.

"Jenna," His eyes turned soft. "Just because I want you for myself doesn't mean I want you to get hurt so I can have you." He almost whispered and gently squeezed my hand.

"Thank you." I smiled shyly at him.

"You're welcome." He smiled back and brushed some of my wet hair that had fallen into my face out of my eyes. "I just realized how beautiful your eyes are." He whispered.

"Thanks. They're supposedly exactly like my mother's, but I don't remember my mother… or my father… or anything about Lorien…" I replied gravely.

"I'm sorry." His smile faded.

"Don't worry about it." I snickered to try to hide the fact that I was really upset about everything right now. "Want to head back?" I added.

"If you want too." He replied. "Oh, and I know you're still upset. But if you don't want to talk about it we don't have too." He added and we lowered ourselves to the ground.

"Thanks." I smiled sadly at him.

"Anytime." He smiled back and we slowly began to trudge our way back to Dr. Martinez's house. Iggy and Ella were waiting outside like they knew I was out here or something. I heard a low growl come from inside or Ari when he saw Iggy just waiting for me in front of the house.

"Hey, Iggy. Hi, Ella." I smiled at both of them even though I really didn't want too.

"Hey, Jenna. Ari." Iggy smiled when he said my name but it faded when he said Ari's.

"Iggy." Ari hissed. I just shrugged at Ella who looked confused.

"So, what's up?" I asked innocently even though I really wanted to scream at these two right now.

"Jenna, Ella and I need to talk you, alone." Iggy replied sounding annoyed that I was with Ari.

"I'm staying with Jenna, so work around that." Ari hissed through clenched teeth. I elbowed him in the ribs.

"Whatever." Iggy almost growled. We all just stood there awkwardly for a few minutes until Ella finally spoke up.

"Jenna," She peeped. "Iggy and I…" She stopped. "Are kind of…" She stopped again. "Back… together…" She finished. She looked kind of scared. Even though I know it, hearing the words still felt like a punch to the gut.

"Great. Good for you two." I hissed through clenched teeth as I crossed my arms at my chest.

"Y-you're not mad?" Iggy asked.

"Pissed actually. I knew this was going to happen. Didn't I tell you after we had our first kiss?" I snapped at him. His eyes widened as my exact words from that day replayed in his head.

"Jenna, I'm sorry, I really am. But seeing each other again after so long brought our old feelings for each other back." Iggy said quietly.

"Congratulations. But saying sorry really doesn't make the feeling of betrayal go away." I snapped and then stormed passed their surprised faces and into the house. Max was sitting on the couch with Fang.

"So, I'm guessing they told you…" Max muttered.

"Yup." I replied and trumped to the bathroom to fix my hair. Max got up and followed me.

"You okay?" She asked.

"Fine." I growled and I ripped a brush through the rats' nest.

"Slow down, you're going to rip your hair out." Max suggested. "Jenna, stop." Max said again after I didn't stop. "Jenna!" She exclaimed and ripped the brush out of my hand. I sank to the floor as sobs began to rip their way through my chest. Hearing the truth hit me harder then I though it would. I thought when they told me, I would feel relieved that I wouldn't have to worry about telling Iggy about Ari and I.

But no.

In real life, I was devastated; too upset to even talk. I felt the tears flow down my face. I felt the sobs tear through me. I felt my breathing hitch. Why was I so upset about this? I knew Iggy and I weren't going to last because of Ari and I, but I was still so upset. I don't understand these feelings, and when I don't understand something, I get upset. The sobs turned violent, as I just felt sorry for myself on the bathroom floor in front of Max.

"Jenna!" She sounded frantic. I must have looked worse than I thought. She was shaking me, trying to snap me out of this hysteria. "Fang! I need help in here!" She shrieked.

"A little busy right now!" I heard him yell.

"What the hell could you be doing?" She screamed.

"Trying to keep Ari and Iggy from killing each other!" He screamed through the house.

"What?" Max began panicking as she knelt beside me in the bathroom. Just then, I heard Ella shriek. Great. Iggy and Ari were fighting because of me. No. Not okay. I'm not worth this. I rubbed my eyes and then sat up. "Are you okay now?" Max asked me.

"For now." I replied and got to my feet.

"Where are you going?" She snapped as I walked passed her in the bathroom.

"To stop Iggy and Ari." I hissed. I took off at full speed and flashed through the house. I stopped as soon as I was on the lawn. Sure enough, Iggy and Ari were fighting like testosterone filled junkies a few yards ahead of me. Fang was doing his best to break them up, but his efforts were in vain. Ari was in a blind fury singling out Iggy in his path of destruction. Being twice his size, Ari really had the advantage. I glanced over at Ella who was bawling her eyes out much like I was minutes prior to this. I can't really blame her though. She was just helplessly watching the man she loves getting his ass kicked by a rage filled Eraser… This had to stop. I held up my hands and levitated them both into the air and then separated them still in midair.

"What the hell is this?" Ari snapped. He was aimlessly flailing around and ended up upside-down much like Iggy was.

"Stop it, both of you." I growled with venom stinging my tongue.

"Jenna, you're doing this?" Iggy screamed.

"Yup. You're flying; Loric style." I replied in the same tone.

"Put us down." Ari hissed.

"Not until you've both clamed down." I replied as I crossed my arms at my chest as a sign that I was not going to budge.

"How do you not be upside down?" Ari asked in a much calmer tone. He was already so much calmer. I could see it in his face.

"Figure it out." I replied and sat down cross-legged on the ground.

"You're really just going to leave us up here?" Ari asked in a somewhat amused tone.

"That's the plan." I smirked at him.

"You're evil." He snickered. He was completely calm now; I could see it in his mind. How did he calm down so quickly? This guy amazed me sometimes. Iggy on the other hand was still pissed off. I heard Max and the others walk out of the house and approach my from behind. Fang, leading the crying Ella, joined us soon after.

"Situation: under control." I said looking at Max.

"Nice job." Max winked at me. I turned my gaze back on Ari and Iggy, who were both still hopelessly suspended upside-down in midair.

"Shall I let you down?" I asked after a few minutes.

"No! This is fun!" Ari replied as he swam through the air. I smiled at his recovery; rage-filled psychopath to childish-teenager in around three minutes. Iggy on the other hand, still looked like he wanted to kill something… And I was getting tired… Great. I had to let them down. I winced as slowly lowered them to the ground and flipped them around so their feet touched the ground and not their heads. Fang dashed in between them just in case they were still feeling fight-y. Ella ran over to Iggy and threw herself all over him, what a drama queen. I rolled my eyes and stood up without uncrossing my arms.

"What happened here?" Max asked Iggy and Ari. When neither of them talked, Max looked to Ella for the answer.

"After Jenna stormed off, Iggy and Ari started screaming at each other. Then, they just started fighting." She explained as Ari made his way to my side. Max and Ella continued talking about what happened while Ari and I playfully poked at each other. He was surely in a great mood right now… I made me happy to see him happy. Is that weird?

"Ari? You awake over there?" Max called over to Ari and I.

"Huh, what? Sorry." Ari replied. As he, Max and Ella began talking, I glanced over to Iggy whose arms were crossed and his face was twisted into a look of complete infuriation. A thousand things were running through his mind.

"Iggy, what do you think about this?" Max asked after a few minutes.

"I'm sick of this and I'm sick of him. Either he goes, or I do. Take your pick." Iggy snapped.

Well. Didn't see that one comin'...

* * *

**Once again, sorry this took so long. If any of you have ever had a little class called precalc and trig, you should understand. If there's anything that you didn't like, tell me go I can fix it! :D Loves you kiddes!  
**


	13. Chapter 13

My eyes widened and my jaw dropped as I felt Ari breathing stop behind me. I shot a glance over to Max; her face matched mine. In fact, everyone's faces did except Iggy's and Ari's.

"Iggy-…" Max began to reason.

"No, Max. That's it. You either get me, or you get Ari. That's it." Iggy hissed. Max clearly was not expecting this and she did not know what to do. Iggy was her brother; but so was Ari… This was bad. She wasn't going to just kick someone out of the flock, was she? She couldn't… could she? "Max, remember all the times Ari was against us? Remember when he was our enemy? How could we possibly trust him after all that?" Iggy growled after a few minutes of complete silence. Max's face was like stone. She had to make a decision that would affect everyone here. One thing was for sure through: I did not want Ari to go. In fact, if he got kicked out of the flock, I was going with him. I mean, even if I didn't want too, I had too; the Mogs would surely find him if he was alone. And plus I do not want to be around Iggy anymore, just look at how childish he was being right now. This was beyond ridiculous.

"Max?" Fang whispered to her touching her arm sympathetically. Everyone was just watching her, waiting to hear the life-changing words. I reached frantically behind me until I found Ari's hand and clutched it tightly.

"I-I guess we really can't leave Iggy… I-I mean, we-we've always been together… R-right?" She stammered. Her voice was shaking and her eyes were sad. I saw Iggy's smug smirk as he heard her words. I squeezed Ari's hand harder to keep myself from walking over to that blond beanpole and slapping that cocky look right off his face. I think Ari knew what I was thinking too because he began stroking the back of my hand with his thumb in an attempt to calm me down.

"I'll pack my stuff and go if that's it then." Ari muttered sadly and turned and slowly trudged his way back to the house. I turned and followed Ari into the house still holding his hand much to everyone's surprise.

"Ari, I'm coming with you." I told him when we entered the house.

"What? You are?" He said surprised. His eyes lit up.

"Yeah." I replied simply. He kind of half smiled and then we started packing our stuff. Soon after, the flock, Ella, and Dr. Martinez joined us in the house.

"Jenna, what the hell are you doing?" Nudge asked. Dr. Martinez whipped around and glared at her for swearing.

"I'm going with Ari." I said without looking up from what I was doing.

"No, you're not." Fang snapped.

"Yes, I am." I snapped right back and rose to my feet. "I obviously can't let anyone go off on their own. We really don't want a repeat of what happened here, do we?" I growled. Everyone's eyes widened when they realized what I meant.

"If Max has chosen to let me go, you would not have stayed with me." Iggy snapped with his arms crossed.

"Yes, however, you would've stayed with the Martinez's and after I give them the weapons for protection that I'm going to give them, you would've been perfectly safe." I hissed through clenched teeth.

"Oh… I-I never thought of that…" Iggy muttered.

"Yeah, there was a lot of stuff you didn't think about before you started all of this shit." I growled at him. I bent over and violently zipped my backpack closed and threw it onto my back. Then I remembered that I left my jacket in Iggy's room. I turned to go get it and Max followed me.

"You're really going?" She asked quietly.

"I have no choice, I'm so sorry. I wish I could stay but I can't leave anyone unprotected ever again." I replied in a shaky tone. I reached into my backpack and pulled out two guns the fallen Mogs had dropped during the battle. "Here, take one of these." I said and handed her a gun. "Any alien that doesn't have one of these," I began and then pulled my necklace out of my shirt. "You know what to do." I finished. She nodded gravely and took the gun. I shrugged out of Iggy's sweatshirt that I had been wearing almost constantly since the day I left this town the first time; I no longer wanted it. I put my pleather jacket on and Max and I walked out. I whipped Iggy's sweatshirt at him. "Here. Take it back. I don't want it anymore." I snapped at him. He caught it and nodded with a sad look in his sightless eyes. I walked over to Ari who was sitting quietly on the couch alone. "You ready?" I whispered.

"You sure you want to come with me?" He whispered back.

"Of course Ari." I smiled warmly at him.

"Then yeah, I'm ready." He replied. He got up and we put on our backpacks. I walked over to Ella, who looked upset.

"Hey." I whispered to her.

"Hey." She replied. "Are you still mad at me?"

"No," I snickered. "I was never really mad at you. I'm mad at Iggy for all of this though." I finished.

"I'm so sorry." She replied through tears and threw her arms around my shoulders. I felt tears welling in my own eyes as I wrapped my arms around her.

"Okay," I sniffled as I pilled out the gun that I was going to give her. "Take this." I handed it to her. "You know what to do." I smiled through the tears. She threw her arms around me again and I followed her example.

"I thought you were dead once. Do not make me think that again." She said into my ear and then released me. Then it was Dr. Martinez's turn.

"You should keep Moe here; if anything happens, she'll protect you." I instructed. She nodded and then I turned to see a crying Nudge.

"Hey." I smiled. She responded by throwing her arms around me. She was almost exactly the same height as me.

"You better not do anything stupid." She said into my ear as we hugged.

"No promises." I snickered into her ear. Then she released me and it was Gazzy's turn. "Bye, kid." I smiled as I hugged him feeling a tear roll down my cheek.

"Bye, Jenna." He said as he clung to me. Then I got to Fang.

"Hi." I said simply.

"Hey." He replied.

"Am I going to get a hug from you?" I snickered through a broken voice.

"Hell yeah." He muttered and actually hugged me. I know! I was shocked too! Next up, Max. This was going to be hard. She had been exactly like a sister to me for the past few months.

"Hey." I said quietly.

"Hey." She whispered.

"Wow, this is hard." I breathed. "Uh, I guess this is it for now…" I muttered.

"I guess so." She replied sadly. I sighed and tried to go on.

"I'm sure we'll meet again one day or another." I barely whispered.

"Defiantly." She replied. After a heartfelt hug, I turned to Angel.

"You make sure none of these kids do anything stupid." I snickered.

"I will." She replied and wrapped her small arms around me. When our hug was finished, I turned and walked passed Iggy and over to Ari.

"Let's roll." I said as a tear rolled from my eye. He nodded and we took off together hand in hand into the air.

Leaving the others behind was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I finally had a family who accepted me for what I really am and now they're watching me fly away for who knows how long. I quickly looked back before Ari and I got too high and waved good-bye to them once more. I saw their pre-school-like figures waved back sadly before Ari and I shot off like bullets into the brisk, fall air.

"So, where do you want to go?" Ari asked interrupting my thoughts after like an hour of silent flying.

"Uh, I don't know. Anywhere special you want to go?" I replied popping my aviators in front of my eyes.

"Not really." He admitted.

"Look what I took!" I exclaimed and whipped out Marianne's ATM card that she left at Dr. Martinez's house when she left in a hurry with the Mogs.

"What is it?" He asked. I handed it to him.

"Marianne's ATM card. We now have money." I snickered.

"Can't companies like, trace the usage or whatever?" Ari asked skeptically.

"Yeah, that's why we withdraw the maximum amount allowed and then skip town." I replied with a smile.

"You little weasel." He snickered.

"Oh, I know." I smiled a more devious smile. And then it was silent once more as we navigated our way through the open sky. Hours passed quickly as we just continued forward. Finally, I began showing signs of exhaustion.

"Getting tired?" Ari asked. He always knew exactly what I was thinking. I don't know how I feel about that…

"No." I replied through a yawn.

"Don't lie." He snickered. "Let's land."

"Whatever floats your boat." I replied and followed him as he began descending. When my feet were both on the ground, I realized that my legs felt like jell-o. Well. This was bad. "Going down." I muttered and began to topple toward the ground below. Instead of hitting the ground, like I planned, I felt hands coil around me and pull me up.

"I got you." Ari said quietly and pulled me to his chest.

"Why, thank you sir." I giggled into his chest. He kissed the top of my head then released me.

"Let's go find a town." Ari snickered and picked up my hand and led me forward.

~Max P.O.V~

Wow. I haven't felt this bad about something in… never… I feel so bad about sending Ari away. And to top it off, Jenna's gone now too. It's like a quarter of my flock is just gone! Poof! Done-zo! Now we're just flying; I don't know where we're going! It's unnerving to land because without Jenna, Mogs freak me out. OH, YEAH! I almost completely forgot about Erasers! They still exist too! And I have this gun thing that I don't know how to use! It's scary to think I might have to actually use it in some crazy life or death shoot out!

GAH.

Now I know why Jenna had a panic attack almost every other day! I only have a tiny crumb of the chocolate chip cookie that is her life and I'm flipping out! The only one who knows we have the gun besides me is Fang, and I didn't even want to tell him about it. This is bad. This is really, really bad.

"Max?" A voice peeped releasing me from my thoughts.

"What?" I exclaimed in a really loud voice that caused everyone to look and me and manage to jump mid-air.

"Uh, Nudge and Gazzy say they're hungry… you okay?" Fang replied from next to me.

"What? Oh. Yeah. Perfectly fine. I was just thinking." I replied.

"That's never good." Fang snickered. "Now, are we going to land or what?" He asked.

"If you guys want too." I replied coolly, hiding my panic. Fang raised an eyebrow skeptically. Damn him for knowing me so well.

"Alright, fine." He decided not ask questions. "Guys, we're landing!" He called behind us.

"Finally!" Nudge exclaimed and happily began losing altitude. We all followed her and were grounded in no time. I really miss Jenna and her constant falling when we land! It literally made my life every time she did it.

"We all miss Jenna, Max." Angel replied from next to me. I sighed.

"Angel, how long have you been reading my mind?" I asked.

"Since we left your mom's house." She replied honestly. I sighed again, longer this time.

"Really?" I peeped.

"Yup." She replied. "Jenna gave you a gun?" She asked.

"Yeah, she did." I admitted. "She wants us to be safe from the Mogs."

"Will they still be after us?" Nudge shot at me rather frantically.

"Jenna thinks so, that's why she gave this to me." I replied and held up the gun. Everyone's eyes widened and looked scared except Fang who had already known.

"Why did we let her leave?" Nudge whined.

"She made her choice." Iggy grumbled to himself.

"What was that, Iggy?" Nudge growled. Lately, my flock hasn't been getting along… It seems like everyone is always mad at somebody. It's just not healthy, you know?

"I didn't say anything." He snapped back as he shoved his hands into his grimy jeans pockets.

"Pretty sure you did." Nudge shot.

"Iggy, Nudge, stop it." Fang snapped. "Max, what's the plan for right now?" He turned to me as Iggy and Nudge continued bickering quietly.

"I have no idea," I sighed. "Fang, I don't know what to do anymore. Everyone's fighting, we now have the school and psycho aliens bent on world domination to watch out for; and honestly, I don't know which is freakier." I slid down to the ground and Fang followed me. I rested my head against his shoulder. "What are we going to do?" I breathed into his neck.

"I don't know either." He sighed. "But, we could start by feeding everyone so they stop complaining." He added before he planted a kiss on the top of my head.

"Good idea." I whispered and moved to get up. Fang moved with me as we rose to our feet. "Okay! Everybody listen up!" I screamed at my flock, who were all fighting now. They all stopped at the sound of my voice and turned to face me. "We're going to walk to the nearest town and find something to eat, got it?" I snapped. Everyone nodded. "Alright. Let's go." I said and began walking.

~Jenna P.O.V~

"Aww, somebody's tired!" Ari mocked in a voice that he would use to talk to a baby. We had just finished eating and I had put my head down onto to the table.

"Shut up." I muttered sleepily into my arm and then lifted my head up. "Want to go to a motel or something? I'm really tired and it is freezing outside." I looked at Ari.

"Sure, Jenna. Are we going to get money out of Marianne's account?" He replied.

"Yeah, we probably should. Let's go." I said standing up. He followed me and threw our trash away then scurried outside to meet me. We found an ATM and then I did the ATM thing to make a withdrawal. Then it asked for a password. Crap! I don't know Marianne's password. Well. Random numbers guess time! "Crap. Incorrect password." I sighed. "Let's try Marianne's birthday…" I typed it in. "Nope." I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to think of what it could be. Just for fun, I tried my birthday. A rush of relief flooded through me when the machine accepted the password.

"Sweet, you got it! What was it?" Ari asked.

"My birthday." I smiled. "She used my birthday as her password." I looked at him.

"That's great." He beamed. "Let's go find somewhere to sleep." He whispered and we were off.

Pretty soon, we were in a motel room and I was getting ready for bed in the bathroom while Ari was watching TV on the bed. Nudge had let me keep a pair of her shorts and a tank top, so I had pajamas. They weren't the most comfortable; but they worked. After I was done, I went into the room and climbed into bed.

"What are we watching?" I asked as I settled in next to him.

"The News." He replied without looking from the screen.

"Anything worth reporting?" I asked seriously.

"Nothing, really." He looked at me. His eyes were grave.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Nothing." He lied.

"Ari," I sat up. "Tell me."

"Fine." He sighed. "I looked in my backpack and found my phone that I forgot I had. I was really supposed to be gone for a few days to scout for the flock and you." He explained.

"And?" I raised an eyebrow.

"I plugged in my phone today and found dozens of missed calls and messages from my dad. He's pissed." He finished.

"What are you going to do?" I asked.

"If he calls again, I should probably answer." He replied.

"I guess so. Wait, you're not actually going to go back to the school are you?" I exclaimed.

"Of course not. I have you to protect now, remember?" He snickered and leaned in and pecked my lips.

"How could I forget?" I smiled.

"I won't let you. Now, go to sleep." He kissed the top of my head and then got up. "Night." He said as he walked into the bathroom to get himself ready for bed.

"Nighty." I replied as he shut the door. I laid back down and pulled the blankets over me and fell asleep before Ari even came out of the bathroom.

I woke up to yelling. Loud yelling. I opened my eyes to see Ari out of bed and pacing around the room screaming into his phone. Ari looked at me, his eyes widened as he realized he woke me up with his yelling. His gaze turned apologetic and he went outside. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I shot a glance over to the clock: 9:00 A.M; I guess I should get up. I stretched and then climbed out of the bed that felt much more comfy than it had last night. I groggily made my way to the bathroom, not before bumping into everything between the bed and the bathroom door. I splashed cool water in my face and when I looked up, Ari was perched against the doorframe. His arms were crossed tightly at his chest making his biceps bulge out of his arms. His face was like stone, cold and hard.

"Your dad?" I asked. He nodded. His jaw clenched even tighter. His dark hair was tousled from sleep. "Are you okay?" He looked like he wanted to punch something, really hard. He shrugged. I walked over to him and coiled my arms around him. He wrapped his arms around me and I was amazed at how gentle his touch was with him being incredibly mad and what not. He held me for a long time and I heard his breathing relax as time went on. He kissed the top of my head and then wordlessly let me go.

"Sorry I woke you up." He said silently as he ran his hands down my arms until they held mine and leaned against the bathroom counter.

"Hey, I don't care about that." I replied gently. He smiled a tiny smile and then kissed the top of my head again.

"Okay, you shower or do whatever, I'll go get us food." He said tranquilly and got off of the counter.

"I like that plan." I smiled. He left the bathroom and I followed him. I walked over to my backpack, handed Ari a twenty and then picked up my clothes from where I threw them yesterday. "Bye." I said and then walked into the bathroom. I started the water and then had the best shower of my life! I got out, brushed my hair and got dressed slowly. When I left the bathroom, I saw Ari eating on the bed.

"Hey. You take long showers." He snickered.

"I felt gross." I giggled and plopped myself down cross-legged next to him.

"And you were." He snickered. "Eat." He handed me the bag of food. I pursed my lips and reluctantly took the bag as my stomach growled. I shoved a McMuffin into my mouth and then reached for a hash brown. "Geez, slow down. I don't want you choking." Ari said as I shoveled two hash browns into my mouth.

"Sorry, I'm a pig." I mumbled almost unrecognizable through a mouth full of food. I swallowed and looked at him. Instead of being grossed out, he looked amused. "What?" I asked as I took another bite of some kind of food.

"Nothing." He snickered.

"What?" I pried.

"Nothing." He insisted. "I'm going to go shower." He smiled deviously and got up.

"Ari!" I whined.

"Jenna!" He mocked in a high-pitched voice and then pranced into the bathroom and shut the door. I snickered to myself and then finished eating. After I was done, I got up and dried my hair with the little hair drier that motels provide you and pulled it back in a tight ponytail. I skipped over to my backpack and pulled out a headband and secured my bangs back. When I was done, I flopped on the bed and rolled onto my stomach. I was still in Nudge's shorts and tank top. What? I'm lazy and don't feel like wearing my tight jeans and my boring shirt. Is that a crime?

Anyway…

I turned on the TV and began channel surfing. I stopped when I saw Spongebob's face. Fun fact: one of my friends in Canada said I reminded him of Squidward. Probably because I can't play a musical instrument to save my life... Seriously… I've tried to play in bands in countless schools and I ended up getting kicked out of all of them… Yeah… Not fun…

I heard the water shut off and Ari moving around in the bathroom. I looked at the clock: 10:39 A.M.; we should probably get moving. I heard the door to the bathroom open. Ari walked out dressed in his black muscle shirt and dark jeans.

"Hey." He said with out looking up.

"Hey." I replied still looking at the screen.

"Really, Spongebob?" He asked as he stood over me next to the bed.

"Yes." I replied and looked up at him.

"Nice." He snickered and sat down next to me on the bed. "When are we leaving?" He asked.

"Pretty soon." I said and sat up my knees. "Hehehe, I'm taller than you!" I giggled as I looked over his head.

"Only because you're on your knees." He pouted.

"What're you going to do about it, shortie?" I mocked.

"You're so immature." He snickered.

"I just watched an entire episode of Spongebob. I feel like a six year-old." I replied defensively.

"I didn't say it was a bad thing." He said and playfully tackled me.

"Ari that hurt!" I exclaimed.

"No it didn't." He snickered into my neck.

"What's your point?" I giggled and then turned my head so that my lips were on his. I felt his hand slide down my back and stop at my waist. I entangled my fingers into his hair and got the biggest shock of my life. "Ah, your hair is wet!" I screamed and bolted upright.

"Yeah, I just showered." He said as a matter-of-factly and sat up next to me.

"Oh, yeah… forgot about that…" I said quietly. I'm such an idiot sometimes…

"Go change so we can go." He smiled adoringly and kissed my forehead.

"Fine." I sighed and got on my feet. I cringed when the cold floor met my bare feet. I grabbed my heap of clothing next to my backpack along with my toothbrush and went the bathroom. I changed quickly and brushed my teeth then walked out of the bathroom to see Ari packing his backpack. I picked up my backpack then set it on the bed and started throwing my stuff into it. Suddenly, a thought hit me. "Ari, can I ask you something?" I asked with out looking up.

"Hell yeah. Ask me anything." He replied still packing.

"What did your dad want?" I peeped. I peeked behind me to see Ari straighten up completely and drop everything he was holding. His face had turned cold and hard; he looked menacing. His mind was filled with hate.

"He wanted to know what was taking me so long and why I wasn't answering his calls." He replied honestly in an icy tone.

"Does he know that we're traveling together?" I asked.

"I-I think he might have figured it out when he started talking about you, I got really defensive." He said quietly and turned to look at me. I spun around and met his concerned gaze.

"We should go." I said quickly.

"Yeah…" He agreed and we finished packing quickly and then we took off into the air.

Where we were going was still a mystery. All I could do was hope: for the safety of the flock along with our own safety. Mogadorians and Erasers were both scavenging for us. Wish us luck.

Everyone knows we need it.

* * *

**Hello kiddies! Please continue to review! Your input really helps me! Loves ya'll! **


	14. Chapter 14

~Max P.O.V.~

"Iggy, shut up!" Nudge shrieked. I ripped my eyelids apart to see Iggy and Nudge in each other's faces.

"Nudge you're so stupid!" Iggy shot right back.

"Hey! Knock it off!" I snapped and lifted my head off of Fang's chest. "What could you two possibly be fighting about this time?" I growled as I sat up. They both shut up and looked away. "You don't want to talk about it, fine. Just don't wake me up again, or I will make you talk." I hissed and laid back down.

I woke up again some time later and saw everyone was asleep. Thank God for that. I hate their constant bickering! It just never seems to stop. It's not that it's everyone. It's always just Nudge and Iggy going at it, then Angel always sides with Nudge and Gazzy always sides with Iggy. Then there's Fang and I who just want everyone to stop; it never does though. I sighed and looked up at Fang's sleeping face. He's so cute when he sleeps! I smiled and rested my head down again. I drifted in and out of sleep for a while before I looked up again. This time, I saw Fang's eyes on me.

"Hey." I whispered.

"Hey." He smiled lovingly.

"How'd you sleep?" I asked.

"Great until Iggy and Nudge decided to go at it." He replied quietly.

"I know. It's gotten worse lately. They need to stop." I muttered.

"Really." Fang agreed. I sat up and Fang followed me. "Come here." Fang smiled.

"What?" I smiled back. He leaned his smiling lips in and kissed me for the first time in a long time. His lips felt so soft against mine. I was so said when we broke apart.

"Let's get everyone up." He whispered.

And that's how our day began.

~Jenna P.O.V.~

"What was that?" I snapped and looked around. Ari and I had been flying for a few hours and had just stopped to rest.

"It was probably just an animal." Ari replied lifting his head from where it was resting.

"Mogadorians are animals." I shot and still franticly surveyed the area.

"Jenna," He opened his eyes and looked at me. "Relax. Nothing's out there." He insisted. I nodded and relaxed. He smiled and closed his eyes again.

"You sure about that, Ari?" A deep, hoarse voice cut through the silence from right behind me. My head snapped up and I scurried away when I saw the Erasers face. When I got close to Ari, his arms snaked around my waist and he pulled me behind him. "Where have you been? We all thought you died or something. I mean, not that we care. But your daddy was frantic." The Eraser mocked.

"What do you want?" Ari growled.

"You." He growled. "Jeb sent us to find you and bring you in." He looked at me. "But since she's here," He smiled a hideous smile. "We'll take her too."

"Over my dead body." Ari hissed in a tone that I have never heard before.

"That could happen." The Eraser snickered and more Erasers now flanked him. Well, this was bad… I really wished that these were Mogadorians so I could just shoot their lights out… But no, they're Erasers. They're part human. It's against my nature to hurt them. Oh crap! And Erasers fist just barely missed my head. Note to self: pay attention to what's going on! I recovered and clapped my hands against the Erasers ears, popping his eardrums. He shrieked in pain and collapsed to the ground, his hands covering his ears. I whirled just in time to have knuckles slam into my head. I fell backwards but was back on my feet as soon as I realized which way was up. I crashed my knee into the Erasers stomach and watched him drop. Then I felt blood drip from my face. I felt my nose: no that was intact. I suddenly felt a sharp pain rip through my head. I felt my forehead. I cringed when my hand touched the left side: that's where the blood was coming from.

Erasers were stronger then I remembered. I shook my head and scanned for Ari. I found him just as he cracked one Eraser on the side of the head; he dropped like a bag of rocks. He ran over to me as soon and the Eraser was on the ground.

"Jenna, you're bleeding!" He exclaimed.

"D-don't worry about it r-right now." I stammered and swatted his hands away from my forehead. Since Ari wasn't paying attention to the Erasers, one advanced on him and punched him from behind. He fell to the ground and the Eraser started kicking him while he was down. I sprang on the guy and slammed my fist into his nose. He recoiled and fell next to Ari who start beating the crap out of the Eraser. Then Ari sprang to his feet, grabbed my hand, and took off running pulling me behind him.

"They're getting away!" An Eraser screamed.

"Not today!" The one who punched me screeched. I glanced behind me to see him fumbling with a gun.

"Ari, he has a gun!" I shrieked. Ari turned his head just as we heard the gun shot. His eyes widened when I dropped.

~Max P.O.V.~

The cool, fall air blew against my face as we flew. Fang flanked me on my right. Nudge and Angel were next to each other, discussing fashion. Iggy and Gazzy flew lower then us, probably talking about some new bomb idea. We had been flying for about three hours now; we'd need to rest soon.

"What do you think Jenna and Ari are doing right now?" Fang asked interrupting my thoughts.

"Probably having a perfect time kissing in the sky." I said offensively.

"Huh?" Fang replied. Then I realized that was supposed to be a secret.

"Oh… I wasn't supposed to tell anyone that…" I whispered.

"Were Jenna and Ari like, together?" Fang asked.

"Well..." I muttered.

"Max?" Fang pried.

"Yeah. They were." I admitted quietly. "I saw them kiss a few times."

"Oh. Well… That's…" His voice trailed off.

"Yeah. Only Angel and I know so don't go blabbing to Iggy." I snapped.

"Angel knew?" He asked.

"She asked me a few minutes after they left. Apparently, Jenna was all Ari could think about and she figured it out. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Fang. I promised Jenna I would let her tell everyone when she was ready. But then… This happened…" I told him. He let out a long sigh. "Fang?" He looked angry and I didn't know if it was because I kept something this big from him or because of Jenna cheating on Iggy. I sighed. "Guys, let's land!" I announced and began descending. We landed and everybody sat down. I sat next to Fang who was still silent. I was so scared that he was mad at me. But my fear went away when he poked my side playfully. "So I take it you're not mad?" I whispered into his ear.

"Not at all." He whispered back and leaned in and pecked my lips gently.

"Aw, Max and Fang are getting kinky!" Nudge announced to everyone.

"Yeah, thank you, Nudge." Fang snickered. I laughed against Fang's shoulder and heard the other laugh as well. Well, except Iggy who stood unmoving leaning against a tree. His face was as hard and as unreadable as a stone.

"Iggy, you okay?" I asked him.

"Yeah." He replied in a cold tone.

"What's wrong?" I pried.  
"Nothing. I'm fine." He insisted.

"Iggy," I walked over to him. "What's up?" I asked him softly.

"Angel told me that Jenna and Ari were together." He growled. Great.

"When did she tell you?" I sighed.

"You knew?" He almost screamed. I sighed again.

"Yes." I breathed. "I knew." He looked shocked.

"You knew and you kept it from me?" He spat at me.

"I promised I'd let Jenna tell you when she was ready." I whispered.

"Oh, and look how good that worked out." He snapped.

"Iggy, I'm sorry Jenna cheated on you. I'm sorry I kept it from you. I don't really know what else to say here." I said quietly.

"Oh shut up! I'm not even mad about that." He hissed.

"Then what are you mad about?" I asked patiently. His eyes turned sad.

"That Jenna moved on so quickly. That she's gone, out of my life for good." He replied quietly.

"You have Ella, remember?" I replied.

"Yeah." He whispered. "I love her, but-…"

"Max!" Nudge exclaimed. I whirled around to see the worst possible thing that I could see right now: a group of seven Mogadorians.

~Jenna P.O.V.~

Where am I? I feel like I'm floating… Oh, yeah… Visions… Haven't had one of these in a while… Let's see what my dear sister and her friends have been up to lately…

"Run, Sam!" A deep voice that I guessed was Blonde screamed.

"We can't just leave her!" The one called Sam shot right back.

"She told us to go! She told us to find Nine!" Blonde snapped.

"The Mogs will take her!" Sam shrieked.

"They already have!" Blonde yelled. Sam's eyes widened and he and blonde took off together into the night.

I bolted up right from where ever I was laying. My heart was racing. I felt like I was choking. Same old same old whenever I woke up from one of these things. Except this time, my right shoulder killed. Like, this pain was really bad. I instantly clutched it tightly and fell back over. I suddenly realized I didn't know where I was, I was moving though… I looked around just to have sharp pains rip through my shoulder and my head. I saw Ari, who was sleeping against the wall of where ever we were. My arm was numb, my head throbbed; I was in bad shape… I just laid there clutching my shoulder for I don't know how long until Ari finally woke up.

"Oh, Thank God you're awake!" He exclaimed and scurried to my side.

"Hey." I muttered. I then realized how weak and tired my voice sounded. "W-what happened to me?" I stammered. Ari was gently stroking my hair in an attempt to keep me calm.

"You were shot in the shoulder." He whispered. I suddenly remembered everything: getting shot, hitting my already bleeding head on the ground, seeing Ari's face before everything went black… I remembered it all. "Jenna? You okay?" Ari asked, concern present in his stare.

"Huh?" I replied as I was ripped from my thoughts. "Oh, yeah. I'm fine." I looked around. "Where are we?" I asked.

"The back of a van. They captured us." He growled.

"I'm so sorry." I whispered.

"For what?" He asked.

"Getting us captured." I replied sadly.

"Hey, no. This is not your fault." He whispered.

"If I hadn't have fainted, we could've gotten away." I replied.

"Jenna, you can't help fainting; especially when you hit your already bleeding head on a rock after getting shot in the shoulder." He told me.

"I guess you're right…" I sighed.

"I know I'm right." A small smile played at his lips.

"Am I still bleeding?" I muttered.

"No. You stopped a little while ago, before I fell asleep; which by the way, I'm sorry for." He replied.

"Why are you sorry?" I whispered.

"I left you alone…" He muttered sadly.

"You were tired, I was out anyway. There was nothing you could really do but watch me sleep anyway." I smiled.

"Really?" He looked at me.

"Yeah." I felt my eyes light up and I reached up my left hand and touched his face. He smiled and held my hand to his face. His face turned anxious when I tensed up due to a wave of pain that ripped through my shoulder. I winced as Ari's smile faded. I whimpered slightly as my hand dropped from his face and he adjusted his position so that my head was resting in his lap. I suddenly felt exhausted and powerless. I finally just gave up fighting it and gave in to the darkness behind my eyelids.

~Max P.O.V.~

We stood motionless and we stared each other down. I wonder who would win in a Mogadorian vs. Bird-kid fight. I feel like the guns in their hands gave them an unfair advantage…

"Hello, humans." One Mog finally spoke up a few minutes later. Everyone stayed quiet. "Quite the quiet bunch aren't we? Well, if I am not mistaken, you were the flying bunch traveling with Nine. Am I correct?" He was glaring at me, like he knew I was the leader. I felt Iggy tense up next to me as we continued to stand in silence. The Mog sighed. "Very well then, we'll get to talk; one way or another." He hissed. "Get them." He said simply and then all hell broke loose.

~Jenna P.O.V.~

Was I being carried? It feels like I'm being carried bridal style or something. Maybe I should just pretend to be sleeping and then, when they least expect it, turn on my ninja mode and ghetto-stomp their faces! I see no rea-ouch! Oh, yeah… There's a bullet hole in my shoulder… I can't almost my entire right side… Looks like I'm stuck… I allowed my eyelids to flutter open. The Eraser that punched my head greeted my vision as we continued forward; he was the one carrying me. Great… I love this guy! (Note my sarcasm…)

I looked around and saw that we were walking into a large building. It took me a minute to realize that we were at the school.

"Guys, she's awake." The one holding me muttered frowningly.

"Just make sure she doesn't get away; she's squirmy." A different Eraser snapped. The guy holding me tightened his grip causing me immense amounts of pain as his fingers squeezed my limp right arm. I flinched slightly and wherever Ari was, he noticed.

"You idiot! You're hurting her!" I heard his voice shriek.

"Wow, Ari. You're so protective of this little girl." The same Eraser that warned the one holding me snickered. "Dusk," The dude holding me turned his head and looked at him. "Harder." And his grip tightened. I yelped in pain as my lifeless arm was twisted behind me. It wasn't my arm that hurt, it was my shoulder. As it moved, it felt like ten thousand knives were being slowly jabbed into it.

"Enough!" I heard voice new to my ears snap. I squeezed my eyes shut as I bit down hard on my lip. We were inside now. I heard footsteps approach me and stop when whoever this was, was standing over me. "Is she hurt?" He asked this Dusk guy.

"Yeah. She was shot in the shoulder when her and Ari tried to get away. Then, she fell and hit her head on a rock." He said shyly, all sharpness in his voice disappeared.

"Ari, this is Jenna Parker, correct?" He asked Ari. After a few seconds of silence, I heard a slam and whoosh, like air leaving someone's lungs.

"Answer your father, Ari!" Someone screamed.

"Yes." Ari answered weakly. So this man was Ari's father…

"Excellent." He snapped triumphantly. "Put her in a bed and tell a nurse to prep her for surgery." He told Dusk. "As for my son," he paused. "Lock him somewhere alone." He finished in a much sadder tone. "Go." He snapped when no one moved. Then I was being rushed somewhere else. I heard Ari being dragged away. He was screaming my name and cussing out other Erasers. I was in too much pain to say anything or even open my eyes. A few seconds later, I was dropped into a bed, a very lumpy bed, and I heard footsteps enter the room.

"Is this her?" I heard a women's voice chime. I opened my eyes and realized I was in a hospital room. Then I remembered what Ari's dad had said about prepping me for some kind of surgery. I had to get away. I whimpered and started thrashing around trying to escape.

"Yeah." Dusk responded and he held me down as I squirmed, annoyance was clear in his tone. The doctor lady sighed and got closer to me.

"They never want to cooperate." She sounded bored. I squeezed my eyes shut as I prayed to get away. I have no idea what they're going to do and that freaks me out. I felt what must have been a breathing mask thing clamp down hard over my mouth and nose. I held my breath in protest. The lady sighed again. "C'mon, you have to breath sometime." I open my eyes and say bored, emotionless eyes locked on me. My lungs burned. I needed to breathe but who knows what was in front of my face just waiting for me to inhale. Finally, I gave out. I sucked in a huge breath of air through my mouth. It felt incredible as it traveled to my lungs, but horror struck when I began to feel tired. My eyelids suddenly felt like lead weights; I could barely hold them up. I felt Dusk's hands relax as my whole body went limp. My eyelids finally closed and I was unconscious.

~Max P.O.V.~

Well, that couldn't have gone worse… The Mogs kicked our butts in seconds. They were stronger than us, bigger then us… Right now, we were in a trailer with our hands tied behind our backs. I sighed as I leaned against the side.

"Well, that sucked." Iggy muttered from next to me.

"Yeah, it did." Nudge agreed. Wow… That was the first thing they agreed on in days! Too bad it was about us sucking in a fight… Fang was silent on my left. He had a black eye from the fight. I rested my head on his shoulder. He kissed the top of my head.

"You okay?" He whispered into my hair.

"Yeah, just mad at how bad that fight was. Mogadorians are strong." I whimpered.

"They are." He sighed. Just then, the truck pulling us came to an abrupt halt causing all of us to lurch forward.

"Ouch! What the hell?" Nudge snapped. I glared at her. The doors to the trailer flew open and three Mogs stood there smiling evilly. We were all pulled out and carried inside the only building in the world scarier than the school. It reeked of dust and decay like it was older. We were carried down flights of stone stairs and thrown into a dungeon looking room. Then we were left alone in the dark.

"I can't see anything!" Iggy whined lightning the mood a little bit.

"Now we all know how you feel, Ig." I snickered. We all sat in silence of a long while after that. None of us knew what to say; none of us knew where we were. What felt like two hours later, the door was ripped open and the Mogs that carried us in entered along with someone we all recognized.

Marianne: Jenna's traitor of a protector.

~Jenna P.O.V.~

I felt myself slowly begin to regain perception. I began to feel pain, burning in my shoulder. I felt pressure in my head and nausea in my stomach. Honestly, I felt like shit. I suddenly realized that someone was holding my hand. More like, lightly resting their hand on mine. I moved my hand slightly to show whoever it was that I was awake.

"Jenna?" A very familiar voice whispered. I tried to say something but instead I just moaned into the pillow I was laying on. "How are you feeling?" The voice asked.

"Mmmm…" I mumbled groggily into the pillow. I slowly pried my eyelids apart and waited for my eyes to adjust to the brightness. As soon as they focused, I say Ari's concern stricken eyes locked on me. I blinked a few times and looked around the room. Ari and I were alone, but I didn't know where I was. "W-where-… Where are we?" I stammered very softly.

"A hospital room, they got the bullet out of your shoulder." He told me.

"There was a bullet in my shoulder?" I asked absently.

"Yeah, from when you got shot, remember?" Ari replied.

"Oh." I thought about it. "Oh, yeah! From that pencil, right?" I answered.

"Eraser, actually." He snickered.

"Same thing." I muttered.

"Oh yeah, they are so similar." He smiled. 'Jenna's high. She's so cute.' Ari's mind said. I gasped.

"I can hear what you're thinking!" I exclaimed.

"You can read minds." His smile grew.

"Really?" I was astonished.

"Yeah." He chuckled.

"That's so cool!" I smiled. I then realized that my right are was in a sling. "Why's this thing eating my arm?" I slurred.

"It's not, sweetie. It's to hold your arm up so you don't put strain on your shoulder." Ari answered gently. He looked amused.

"Why?" I asked.

"So your shoulder doesn't hurt." He replied.

"Oh. You're hot." I giggled.

"Why, thank you." He chuckled. Then BAM: a sudden explosion of who I am and where I was appeared in my brain. I blinked a few dozen times and looked around. "Welcome back." Ari cut in to my frantic looking. I directed my attention to Ari.

"Hey, how long was I out?" I asked in a much less slurred voice.

"You were asleep for like four and a half hours and then you've been amnesia high for the past half an hour; so about five hours." He replied. His face still looked amused.

"What?" I asked.

"You think I'm hot." He snickered. I immediately turned bright red and looked away.

"I meant you look warm, take off your jacket." I said defensibly and began to sit up.

"Careful." Ari warned and stood up to help me.

"I'm fine, Ari." I insisted when I was sitting up completely. He backed off and sat back down. "So, what's the plan?" I asked him.

"Not sure yet. Your shoulder is going to take a while to heal…" He replied. I sighed.

"Just a minor set back." I told him.

"We coul-…" He began but stopped cold when we heard the door open.

"Ari- Oh good. She's awake." A man accompanied by three Erasers stepped in the room. Ari immediately straightened up in his chair. He turned and whispered something to the Erasers.

'Who?' I mouthed quickly to Ari.

'My father.' He mouthed back. Oh. Well… this just got awkward… Ari's dad turned back to us.

"Jenna, my name is Dr. Jeb Batchelder. I'm the one who removed the bullet from your shoulder." He told me.

"Why, thank you, sir." I replied snidely. I tried to cross my arms but failed miserably when my left arm smacked into the sling that was holding my right arm. Opps. Forgot about that… I dropped my arm back to my side sadly.

"I can tell by your tone you've been hanging around with my daughter, Max." He snickered. Daughter?

"Max is your sister?" I looked at Ari.

"Biologically, yes." Ari replied. Oh! Now I get it! Max and Ari are half-siblings! Can't say I see the resemblance…

"Now, I need to ask you a few questions." Jeb said.

And the bombarding began.

~Max P.O.V.~

"Marianne." I spat.

"Maximum." She looked at me.

"H-how did you…" My voice trailed off.

"Know your name?" She finished my question. "We know a lot about you." She answered. My jaw dropped. "What?" Her mouth warped into a wicked smirk. "You think I don't know my way around the Internet? I lived with a sixteen year-old girl who needed a new name every six mouths." I have never thought of that… That there could be information about us bird-kids on the Internet or that anyone can access it… I'm going to have to have Nudge fix that later… "Now, we just need to talk to you; alien to human." Marianne said in what must have been her soothing mother voice and smiled a very warm, inviting smile.

Oh, this ought to be fun.

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**Hey ya'll! I hoped you liked this chapter! Please review! I'm starting to really need the input! Thanks! :D**


	15. Chapter 15

~Jenna P.O.V.~

After about forty-five minutes of answering stupid question after stupid question, I was jammed into a dog crate. Yes, a dog crate, gimpy arm and all. There wasn't any room at all. I tried to hug my knees to my chest but I couldn't because of my stupid arm! I sighed as laid on my side and curled into a semi-tight ball.

"Jenna?" I heard Ari's voice cut through the silence.

"Hm?" I replied tired-like.

"Just checking that you're still there." He replied humbly. "How's your arm? Does it hurt?" He asked.

"Not really; it's just really annoying and restricting." I replied. My voice echoed through the darkness and began to freak even me out.

"It's really creepy in here… It's like… eerie…" Ari commented.

"I was just thinking that." I nodded in my crate.

"It's freaking me out." He added.

"Oh my gosh, we have so much in common." I replied in my annoyingly-enthusiastic-blond-cheerleader voice in an attempt to lighten the mood. I heard Ari snicker something under his breath. "What was that?" I asked.

"Nothing." He replied in a voice that made me know he was lying.

"Ari Ralph Batchelder, tell me what you said this instant!" I exclaimed in a pretty convincing angry mother voice.

"Ralph? That is not my middle name." Ari laughed.

"I made it up." I giggled against my crates floor.

"I guessed that." I could tell Ari was smiling by the tone of his voice.

"Tell me what you said." I whined.

"Jenna Beatrice Parker, I didn't say anything." Ari snickered.

"Beatrice? Ew." I laughed out loud. Ari joined me and then we were the idiots laughing like hyenas in the pitch-blackness. A little while later, Ari was snoring quietly in his own crate. I was restlessly trying to get comfortable to no avail. My shoulder hurt, my head ached, this sucks. I sighed in the darkness and eventually passed out against it.

~Max P.O.V.~

"Ouch! Nudge, stop kicking me!" Gazzy exploded in the darkness.

"Sorry! I can't see anything!" Nudge exclaimed.

"Guys, just be careful!" I snapped.

"You guys are wimps." Iggy laughed.

"Iggy, shush." I snapped again. He laughed again; he was the only calm one out of all of us.

"The trick is to just stop and listen, try to picture what's around you." Iggy told us. Everyone stopped shuffling around against the grimy, stone floor. "Good. Now just feel around; see what you can make out." We all did what he told us to do. It was working! I began to be able to make out what was around me.

"At least we're not in dog crates…" Nudge grumbled to herself. You know, she did have a point… True, this sucked… But we have been through way worse… The questions Marianne asked us were no where near as disturbing and belittling as the questions we were asked at the School… Maybe in some ways, this was better... or at least just less terrible… Either way, School or wherever we were now, not knowing what was coming next was scary. I've always been afraid of the unknown. It's just always been lurking behind every good thing that had ever happened to us. Perfect example: Jenna Parker, outside: young, ordinary six-teen year-old girl, inside: a tremendously powerful alien… How misleading…

"Max," Angel interrupted my thoughts and tugged on my sleeve.

"Huh?" I shook my head and looked at her.

"We're going to be okay." She told me. I smiled at her in the darkness.

"I know, sweetie." I replied.

And then, something inside of me changed.

~Jenna P.O.V.~

"What the hell are you guys?" I heard a familiar, deep voice screech ripping me from my dreams. I ripped my eyelids apart just in time to see two figures get stuffed into dog crates. I sat up in my crates and scooted myself closer to the door of my crate so I could get a better look. I squinted against the bars and tried to figure out if I knew these guys. The one guy's voice sounded so familiar… I heard them fighting against their cages. Ari's father was trying to talk to them with no luck; they were cussing out Erasers to loudly. Eventually, he just gave up and he and the Erasers turned and left the four of us alone in our dog crates. He left the light on in the room this time so it wasn't as freaky. Time to calm the newbie's.

"Guys! You're not going to escape by screaming so just stop!" I shrieked at the frantic gentlemen.

"Who are you?" Mr. Familiar-voice screamed.

"Don't yell at her!" Ari growled from his crate.

"Ari, shh." I shushed. "Now, are we going to relax and talk in a nice, humane manner?" I asked directing my voice toward Mr. Familiar-voice. I heard his ragged breathing slowly relax.

"John, they're in cages too. I think we can trust them." The other boy that hadn't breathed a word since he got here finally spoke up. I heard John sigh.

"You're probably right." He sheepishly agreed. "My name is John Smith."

"Sam." The other boy replied.

"I'm Jenna." I waited for Ari to introduce himself. "And that's Ari." I spoke up when he didn't.

"Hey." Ari replied.

"W-where are we?" Sam asked.

"That's a really long story. Basically, this is a mad science lab called the School." I replied.

"The title fits well." Sam muttered to himself. I raised an eyebrow.

"How did you guys get picked up?" I asked. They were silent. "C'mon, we're in this together, you can trust us." I added after a few minutes.

"Sam and I went for a walk and those things found us…" John replied in a tone that basically screamed that he was lying.

"Great story. Now tell the truth." I shot at him.

"That was the truth." John snapped.

"I know when people are lying John." I rolled my eyes. "You want our help escaping or not?"

'I think I'll be the one helping you.' His mind snapped. I could tell he was annoyed, not that I cared or anything… I could just tell. This guy was just super full of himself… "Fine." He growled. "We were… looking for someone… The trail lead us a few miles from here where we got attacked… We were separated, um, my sister and I… She told us to continue looking and she would catch up later. Then, whatever those things were picked us off." He was still partly lying but at least I got some truth behind his statement.

"Who were you looking for?" I pried.

"You know, that's kind of personal." He hissed.

"Okay, don't tell me then. I couldn't care less. I just wanted to know if you needed help but you clearly have yourself and Sam under control, don't you?" I snapped at him. Nothing bothers me more then when guys have that idiotic idea that they're too macho and tough to accept help. Ugh. It makes me sick. I heard Ari snicker and John growl.

'She's so much like Six…' John's mind whispered. Six? My sister? W-who are these guys really?

"W-who are you?" He stammered.

"Jenna Parker." I snapped.

"No, I mean who are you?" He asked again. Suddenly, I got what he meant.

"I am number Nine." I almost whispered.

"Finally…" He said almost inaudibly… I was amazed he heard me. "Jenna," He spoke much quieter and nicer. "Sam and I," He paused. "And Six," I automatically straightened up and the mention of my sister. "Were looking for you. I," He paused again suddenly like he thought I would need a moment to process things. "Am number Four."

Welp, there goes my jaw.

~Max P.O.V.~

"Guys, just sit down." I reasoned. Angel's, Fang's, and my eyes had adjusted to the black but Gazzy and Nudge still fumbled around like the lost, little bird-kids they were. They plopped themselves down next to me and Nudge immediately began being her motor-mouthed self and talked everyone's ears off. I felt Iggy tense up on my left. "Iggy?" Everyone shut up.

"Someone's coming." He whispered.

"I hear their minds now. Someone's with them… Another victim." Angel muttered. We all froze and stared at the door in silence just waiting. Sure enough, not ten seconds later, the door flew open and light flooded the room, hurting my eyes. Just like Angel had said, a girl was thrown kicking and screaming into the musty, damp hovel we were in. As soon as she hit the ground, she sprang back to her feet ready to kick some butt. Her eyes were locked on her capture; she looked almost wild.

"Aren't we a bit pretty for a Mogadorian?" Her Australian-accented voice broke the silence. I squinted and realized that Marianne was the one standing before us, gun in hand.

"Time will tell." Marianne hissed and then backed out of the room leaving us seven alone. The girl sighed and pulled something out of her belt loop that glowed a very familiar-looking, florescent-blue glow.

"Just like Jenna's…" Nudge breathed. The girl whirled around in the dim lighting; she looked startled like she thought she had been alone.

"You've seen one of these before?" Aussie asked us. We all just nodded; too stunned to speak. "Where?" She continued. I shook my head.

"This is going to sound weird… But, do you have three scars on your right shin?" I asked in an unsure voice. Her eyebrows rose then she nodded once slowly.

"W-who are you? And are those… wings?" The freaked out Australian asked in a much less secure tone. I looked over to Fang. He nodded sheepishly.

"Take a seat; it's a long story." I sighed and took a deep breath as she sat down where she stood, her eyes locked on us. "My name is Max and this is my family; we're not normal. Yes, we have wings. No, we're not related by blood. And a few months ago, we met this girl, Jenna, and she was like you." I decided not to go into extreme detail on our story. The Aussie looked puzzled. She kept opening her mouth to speak and then closing it before any sound came out. A few minutes later, she sighed.

"Call me Jane." She began. "You are probably some of the only humans who know about us." She sighed again. "So, who's this Jenna? Is she here?" Her eyes widened.

"No. She ditched us." Iggy grumbled. I heard Nudge slap him. "What? She did!" He exclaimed.

"Iggy, shut up." I snapped. "No, she was with us for a while but then left when we kicked this other guy, Ari, out of our flock." I told her.

"Did you know her number?" She asked. Her voice sounded hopeful. We all looked at each other.

"Wasn't she like, nine… or something?" Nudge replied. Jane's eyes widened and her jaw fell.

"Yeah. I think so." I agreed.

"Nine?" Jane breathed.

"Uh, yeah. Why?" I asked.

"I have been looking for her for so long. She was the first Four and I wanted to find." She replied.

"Four? Who are you?" Iggy asked. She was silent for a while.

"I," She began quietly. "Am number Six," She closed her eyes. "Number Nine's sister." She reopened her eyes and smiled a little.

I felt the gasp leave my mouth. Right then and there, I realized that everything in Jenna's life was real; my jaw dropped as I realized so was the world domination part was too.

~Jenna P.O.V.~

"So when are we breaking out of here?" Sam asked as he sat down in our small, little half-circle thing we were sitting in. The sun was warming my face as I rested it in Ari's lap. It had been four days since they arrived here, five for us. They had let us come outside for 'exercise', but we chose to rebel and just sit in a circle. The sling on my arm had been removed two days ago and the pain almost completely stopped the next day, almost being the key word.

"Pretty soon." John replied as he continued ripping grass out of the Earth. "How's your shoulder, Jenna?" He stopped and looked at me.

"Fine." I replied with my eyes closed.

"Don't believe her. She could be bleeding profusely from her skull and she would still be like, 'Oh, don't worry about me guys; I'm perfectly fine. It's just a scratch, I swear.'" Ari mocked in a high-pitched voice that was suppose to sound like mine as he squeezed my hand. I opened my eyes to glare at him and was greeted by his usual smug grin. I just shook my head and snickered as I sat up.

"Ari, shut up." I giggled and playfully punched him in the arm.

"Ow!" He exclaimed and grabbed his arm.

"That didn't hurt." I replied as my grin extended from ear to ear.

"What's your point?" He said playfully. I looked up to see Sam and John just watching us.

"Sorry, guys." I snickered and leaned against Ari's arm. Ari leaned in and kissed my head.

"Right, anyway, so I was thinking," John began.

"That's never good." I mocked. Even though it had only been four days, John, Sam, Ari, and I had grown incredibly close to one another. Even Ari and I were closer then before we met them…

"Adorable." John snickered gazing at me with amused eyes. "Now, we need to get out of here and find your sister as soon as possible." Something snapped in my head for the first time.

"Wait… Remember when you first got here and said how your sister was taken?" I began as my smile faded. John nodded solemnly. "Y-you really meant my sister, didn't you?" I stammered.

"Yes, Jenna. I am so sorry. Mogadorians took Six while we were investigating the wreckage of your old house in Arizona." My eyes widened. My sister: someone with my blood in her veins, taken… This only meant that it could happen to me… Any of us really…

"We need to get her back, and fast." I growled.

"My thoughts exactly. Tonight?" John replied.

"Tonight." I agreed and looked to Ari. "Ari, you know this place better than anyone of us. What's the best way to get out unseen?" I asked.

"There's always the air ducts… But I doubt we'll all fit." He replied. Suddenly, a plan hit me like a speeding fright train; I figured out our way out.

"Okay, here's the plan." I whispered

And the scheming began.

~Max P.O.V.~

"What was Jenna like as a baby?" Angel asked Jane as we took a break from plotting our escape.

"From what I remember, she was quiet. I don't really remember much though. We left when she was eight days old and arrived when on her first birthday and I'm only three years older than her, so I was a toddler." She told us. "I do remember on thing," She smiled lovingly. "On the ship, her protector let me hold her and she punched me in the face."

"Yup, that sounds like Jenna alright." Iggy snickered.

"Wait," Her face turned serious. "Is her protector still alive? Do any of you know?" She asked.

"The lady that dragged you in here as her protector." I told her. "Jenna was betrayed." Jane's eyes widened.

"That must have been horrible… Betrayed by the very one that promised to love her like her own child…" Her voice trailed off.

"Yeah, she was pretty torn up about it for a while... She would always refuse to talk about it when we asked." Iggy replied. This was the first time he spoke well of Jenna since they… you know… Jane and Iggy continued talking about while Angel scooted herself over to me.

"He still loves Jenna." Angel whispered into my ear. I groaned quietly and squeezed my eyes shut.

"I figured as much." Fang, who have listening silently almost all day, finally spoke up. I sighed.

"Yeah, me too." I realized and reopened my eyes. "One thing's for sure, we need to get out of here. The darkness is getting to me." I sighed.

"Me too." Gazzy peeped. Wow, could everyone hear us?

I wrapped my arm around the eleven year-old and Angel tucked herself under my other arm.

"Jane," She looked at me. "Is there anyway we could escape tonight? We've already been here four days too many." I finished and she smiled cunningly at me.

"Well, there is one thing that I have in mind." She replied.

"Lay it on us." I smiled deviously back at her. Right then, I knew that this was it; we were getting out.

Tonight.

~Jenna P.O.V.~

"Just shut up, Ari!" I screamed in his face and shoved him backward.

"You're just as brainless as they are!" Ari screamed just as loud and got in my face once more.

"Guys, just chill. We're all-…"

"Shut up, Sam!" I interrupted and turned my glare on him. I watched him shrink back behind John. I returned my gaze back to Ari's fuming face.

"What's going on over here?" I heard Ari's father's voice boom as he approached. Two Erasers rushed in and now separated Ari and I.

"I've been an idiot. I don't know how I ever thought I could love this… thing!" Ari's voice hissed. His infuriated eyes were still locked on mine. "Dad, I am so sorry for ever going against you, against the School… Please let me back in…" Ari's voice turned sincere as he turned his newly calmed eyes on his father.

"Of course, Ari. Welcome back." Jeb smiled proudly at his son and patted him on the shoulder. Then he turned to John, Sam, and me. "Put them back in their cages." He told the other Erasers.

"Wait," Ari butted in and stopped them from moving. "Let me play with the twitchy one." A smile fueled by pure wickedness grew on his lips as his stare turned to Sam. My fists clenched and I backed up until I was standing protectively in front of Sam, side by side with John.

"You want him, you'll have to take us down first." John growled.

"With pleasure." Ari smirked and leaped at me. John sprang at the other two Erasers and knocked them off their feet. Jeb quickly got himself out of the way of danger like the scared puppy he really was. Ari's fist whizzed passed my head, grazing my hair in the process. I returned by throwing a punch that missed him completely. He took advantage of the huge opening I had left and grabbed my neck in his hand. He slammed me lightly against the ground and leaned over me so his mouth was centimeters from my ear. "Meet in the woods in one hour. If you and John aren't there, I'm going in after you." He whispered into me and I felt his lips graze my cheek. I whimpered loudly like he was hurting me. Then Ari pulled me to my feet by my neck and forced my arms behind my back. The Eraser that wasn't holding John rushed over and took me from Ari; he was so rough! Ari hadn't hurt me in any way, shape, or form! I whimpered again, a real one this time. I saw Ari's and John's eyes glare at the one that held me. I shot warning glances at them both and pretended to struggle against my capturer. I saw Ari reach Sam and roughly grab him. Sam cried out in mock-pain as he was dragged away from us. John and I were taken, kicking and screaming, and thrown into a small, all white room. I heard a click that meant the door was locked and we were officially alone.

Finally: now phase two of our plan could begin.

I looked over to John. Our eyes met and we both busted into an unstoppable, uncontrollable laughing fit.

"Well, that went well." I snickered as the laughing receded.

"Do you know how hard holding back that much was?" He chuckled.

"I can imagine." I beamed at him.

"What's our next move?" He asked me as he stood up and looked around the room.

"Ari and Sam are going to steal our backpacks and junk out of storage so alls we got to do is sneak out of here unseen." I replied and got to my feet as well. I scanned the ceiling. There was only one air vent and it was too small for either of us to fit through. I sighed. "We're going to have to sneak out through the door. Think you can pick the lock with your Luman?" I asked. John had a legacy that allowed him to do things like manipulate objects as well as charge up the other Garde members… And I got stuck with reading minds… Who's the lucky one here?

"I think so." He replied and got to work on the door. Some time later, we heard a click and John slowly turned the handle. "Got it." He smiled and flashed his brilliantly white teeth.

"Good job." I smiled back and ruffled his hair playfully. "Now, let's go. Oldest first." I winked and lightly pushed him forward.

"Whatever." He snickered and crept out of the room with me on his heels. There was no one in the halls lucky for us. About five minutes into our sneaking, I began to hear talking getting closer and closer to us. John's eyes widened as he thought we were screwed.

'Do not flip out.' I warned his mind before levitating us both against the ceiling. His eyes got even wider and he breathed in sharply. I slapped my hand over his mouth to keep any other sound from leaving his mouth. The two doctors, I recognized Ari's father and that Ter Borcht guy from the first time I was here, stopped in the hallway and looked around. They both shrugged after a few minutes and kept walking. I felt the sigh of relief leave my lips as I slowly lowered us to the ground.

"How?" He whispered still looking astonished.

"You can do it too, its just levitation. We all have it." I replied and took off walking once more. He silently scurried after me, his eyes still wide. I stopped at a corner and peeked my head. Seeing no one, I waved John forward. We rounded the corner and continued forward. John peeked around the next corner and stopped me. I listened as I heard voices begin to disappear behind the walls. He waved me forward as they disappeared completely. We reached a stairwell and began descending. After going down six floors, we heard a door open and voices begin to penetrate the eerie quiet that had surrounded us. John and I froze in our tracks immediately until we realized that the noises were coming from beneath us.

"Go back up!" John whispered sharply and lightly pushed me. We began rushing up the stairs three at a time. As soon as we reached the nearest floor, we ripped the door open and flew through it. We were suddenly in a small waiting area. Comfortable furniture lined the walls. The doorknob to the stairwell began to wobble. "Hide!" John hissed as he held it closed. I heard the perplexed voices as they continued shaking the handle desperately trying to pry the door open. I slide myself under a desk and as soon as I was set, I levitated John into the air and against the ceiling. The door tore open and puzzled faces assessed why the door wouldn't open. They eventually gave up and one person sat down at a desk.

The very desk I was hiding under. Of course… Just my flipping luck… My heart began racing. I had to keep moving so the lady's feet wouldn't touch me. Suddenly, the lady's jabbed her stiletto heel into my hand. My eyes widened. I had to physically cover my mouth so I wouldn't scream in pain. I began to lose my focus on John. He began to bob up and down in the air.

'Make some kind of noise!' I hissed mentally at John and prayed he listened. I then heard a faint thumping sound.

"What was that?" The pointy shoe lady whispered to herself and got up to check it out. I watched as she left the room and then yelped in pain. I lowered John to the ground then crawled out from under the desk clutching my hand.

"You okay?" He whispered and dashed over to me.

"She stepped on my hand." I whined and watched as the blood trickled down my arm.

"You're okay." John snickered. "Let's go, she'll be back soon."

"Right." I agreed. And we took off into the stairwell once more.

~Max P.O.V.~

I allowed my eyes to close as the flock and I pretended to sleep. Jane was perched by the door just waiting to strike. Not ten minutes later, the Mogadorian that refilled our food bowl only when we were sleeping foolishly entered the room like usual. As soon as he was far enough in, Jane slammed the door shut and grabbed her knife providing a small amount of light. She slammed the Mog to the ground and plunged her dagger into his chest.

"Hello, Six." He growled weakly. She just glared at him. "Y-you k-know, we were just talking about that lovely little sister of yours." He smiled wickedly. I watched as Jane's grasp on her blade tightened. "Sh-she's in danger, you know? More than a-any of you Lorics." Jane's eyes widened and Iggy sprang up.

"What do you mean?" Jane growled. He just laughed an evil, low laugh.

"All in due time, my dear. You will figure out the same time as everyone else; when she's dead." His wicked smile grew wider as he grabbed Jane's wrist and twisted it so the knife would twist in his chest. His eyes went vacant then we all watched as he disappeared into a cloud of ashes, leaving Jane leaning over his remains. Her wide, troubled eyes dug through the ash until she found the gun her had been carrying.

"Let's get this over with." She muttered and got to her feet. I swear I saw a tear stream down her face. She opened fired on the door and it soon fell off its hinges.

And so our plan began.

* * *

**Hey guys! I hope you like it and stuff. If you feel it in your heart to review and gimme some feedback on your thoughts of my story so far, I'de really appreciate it and stuff! Thankies! Loves you all! :3 **


	16. Chapter 16

~Jenna P.O.V~

"You, my devious little alien, are quite the actress." Ari snickered as he picked me up and twirled me around. John and I had just caught up with Sam and Ari in the woods.

"Well, it was Sam's idea to fake an argument anyway." I giggled and ruffled Sam's hair with my hand that wasn't bleeding.

"Thanks." Sam beamed.

"Hey, I always give credit where credit is due." I replied as my smile grew.

"Jenna," Ari began.

"Hmm?" I turned to face him as he picked up my bleeding hand.

"Why is it that you're always bleeding?" He snickered.

"It's a gift?" I shrugged and put on my best innocent face. Ari shook his head and smirked. "What?" I smiled.

"Nothing." He replied flashing a smile.

"Really, you're pulling the nothing card again?" I snickered and felt his hands make their way into mine.

"Yes." He smiled and leaned in and kissed my lips gently. When I opened my eyes after we parted, I saw John watching us.

"Go away John, he's mine!" I exclaimed and threw my arms around Ari.

"That's totally fine with me!" John replied and put his hands up in mock-surrender. Then, everyone busted out laughing uncontrollably. It took a few minutes until we finally relax and could talk again. "Okay," John spoke up after everyone was calm. "We need to go back to Arizona." Sam's eyes widened.

"You sure? Remember what happened last time we were there?" He replied.

"Yes, Sam. But we left a lot of out stuff there when we ran away." John looked at him.

"Oh, yeah." Sam replied quietly and turned his gaze to the ground.

"Alright." I nodded. "How are we getting there?" I asked.

"Looks like were walking." John replied and turned and began to walk away with Sam on his heels. Ari and I looked at each other. I shrugged and walked after Sam and Ari followed me, hand in hand. And we were off to the place that had killed me.

Twice.

~Max P.O.V.~

We crept from the room, Jane in front. She stopped and peeked around a corner and waved everyone forward. We continued forward and made it to the stone stairs that we were carried down when we first arrived here. We silently rushed up the stairs two at a time. We reached the top of the stairs with minimal interference from Mogadorians and as soon as we were up, we scanned for doors that might lead to the outside. Jane found one and put her ear to it. She listened for a few seconds and the shook her head. We continued forward until we heard a door open. Light flooded the room and one figure appeared in front of us.

"Hello, children. Being a bit naughty, aren't we?" Marianne's voice cut through the silence. Jane ripped her knife from her belt loop and glared murderously at Marianne. "I'm guessing you found out." She sighed.

"You filthy traitor!" Jane hissed.

"Six," Marianne began with bored eyes. "Didn't Katrina ever teach you to respect your elders?" Jane's eyes grew soft for just a brief second before growing more wicked then before.

"Don't you dare talk about her!" Jane growled and squeezed her knife to keep from snapping.

"Whatever." Marianne sighed again. "I'll let you go this time. But keep in mind your all in grave danger." She retorted and stepped aside from in front of the door. Jane motioned for us to go while she waited to go last. I pushed the flock in front of me and forced them outside. Then I watched Jane walk out, but not before her and Marianne had a fierce stare down along the way.

"Let's go." Jane muttered as she walked in front of us. The flock turned to me. I nodded at them and then followed Jane. We stopped after we were far from the Mog's lair. "Okay, I need to find Four and Sam and then my sister from there. You coming with, or are we splitting?" Jane asked after a few minutes.

"I don't know. Guys, what do you want to do?" I looked at the flock.

"If Jenna's in danger, I want to be there for her." Iggy snapped and fidgeted where he was sitting.

"Me too. I want to help in any way I can." Nudge chimed in.

"Me too." Fang smirked.

"You know, if we're in danger and you join us, you'll be in danger too. I can't promise you we won't get jumped like that again and next time, we may be separated." Jane replied sadly.

"No one asked you to promise anything." Gazzy smiled.

"Yeah. Jenna's our friend!" Angel smiled. I smiled at Angel and ran my fingers through her blond hair.

"Looks like we're with you." I beamed at Jane.

"Looks like you are." Jane smiled back. Then we took off into the air, Fang and Iggy both held Jane's arms.

Hang in there Jenna; we're coming.

~Jenna P.O.V.~

We arrived in Arizona in a flash as soon as Ari had the brilliant idea to carry Sam while I levitated John and myself in the air. I was scanning through the leftover wreckage that had not yet been cleaned up from the fire.

"Jenna," John called.

"What?" I turned to him.

"Follow me." He replied, turned and walked into the wood just beyond my old house. I shot a glance at Sam who was sitting under a tree. Sam nodded and I shrugged then took off after John. He led us to a large clearing that could be used for like camping or something… I noticed a dark pick-up truck with a crack in the windshield and a red crotch rocket, the same vehicles I saw John and Six in front of in my visions.

"Yours?" I asked.

"How'd you know?" John replied.

"I've uh, been able to kind of… see the decisions you and my sister have made through my dreams…" I admitted shyly. He turned to face me, his eyes wide.

"Really?" He breathed. I nodded. "How?" He asked.

"How do your hands glow?" I asked.

"Touché." He shrugged. "Anyway, that's Six's bike. You're probably the only one she wouldn't kill if she caught you riding it. Think you can drive it?" He finished turning to me. A devious smile grew at my lips and my eyes lit up. I nodded at John and walked over to the bike. "What have I done?" John whispered and shook his head as I straddled the motorcycle. He got in the driver side of his truck and it roared to life at the turn of his key. I twisted the key of the bike and giggled like a Japanese schoolgirl when it turned on. "Be very careful Jenna! Six will not hesitate to beat you with your own body parts if you scratch the paint!" John snickered and then put the truck in gear and took off toward the road. I carefully put the bike in D and even more carefully twisted the handle. I slowly began to go forward and even managed to keep myself upright. John and I hit the road and then we at the wreckage of my former home once more.

"Awesome, they're back!" Sam called. Ari looked up and smiled when he saw me. Sam ran over to us and got in the truck while Ari just trudged his way over to me.

"Really? You're letting Ms. Accident-prone drive a motorcycle?" Ari looked at John.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time." John snickered through the open window. "Ari, think you can fly above us?" John asked after he, Sam, and Ari laughed at what John said while I just glared at them.

"Yeah, I could do-…" A small dog barking over and over again interrupted Ari. I turned to see Moe running as fast as her little legs could carry her over to me. As soon as she reached me, she leaped up and knocked me right off the motorcycle and began licking my face repeatedly.

"Oh, my gosh! I am so- Ari?" A girl's voice asked. I looked up to see Ella running over to us as well.

"Oh, hey Ella." I smiled from on the ground. I noticed she had Total, her Yorkshire terrier, with her as well.

"Jenna!" She beamed. I grabbed Moe in my arms and stood up.

"John, Sam, come here!" I called. The obediently got out of the truck and walked over to Ella and I.

"John, Ella. Ella, John." I introduced, John waved. "Sam, Ella. Ella, Sam." Sam waved.

"Hi, guys." Ella smiled. "Jenna, do you want to like, come over for dinner or something since you're in town?" Ella asked turning to me.

"John?" I let him decide.

"Why not." He shrugged. Ella, Moe, and Total squeezed into the truck with John and Sam. Oh my, that must've been awkward… I followed behind on the crotch rocket, and Ari was close by in the sky. I had to make sure I kept my head down so my old classmates wouldn't flip out when they saw the 'late' Jenna Parker riding a bright red motorcycle… That would be hard to explain…

We turned into Ella's driveway and were joined by Ari in the next few seconds. Ella unlocked the door and let us in.

"Mom, people are here!" Ella called.

"Who?" Dr. Martinez replied as she walked out of the dining room. "Jenna? Ari?" She breathed.

"Hey, Dr. M!" I beamed.

"Hello." Ari said uncomfortably. I nudged him in the ribs lightly. Our eyes met for a brief second but I looked away when I saw Dr. Martinez gawking at John and Sam.

"Oh! John, Dr. Martinez. Dr. Martinez, John." I introduced once more. "Sam, Dr. Martinez. Dr. Martinez, Sam." Sam waved.

"Hello." Dr. Martinez smiled and shook both of their hands. Then we ate and junk. Moe stayed right under my chair throughout all of it. A loud whimpering from in a different room interrupted our dinner.

"Uh, what was that?" I asked Ella.

"Oh, we found a dog hurt in the woods earlier today. Mom took care of him and we're keeping him until he's better." Ella explained.

"In the woods?" John looked up from his plate.

"Yeah. He was just limping around on a broken leg." Dr. Martinez replied.

"Wh-what kind of dog?" He asked. I raised my eyebrows.

"A Beagle. Why?" Dr. Martinez looked at him.

"Could I see him after dinner?" He pried.

"Sure." She agreed and then resumed eating. After dinner, we all went to look at the dog. As soon as John crossed in front of the dog's vision, he sprang up and knocked John over, much like Moe had done to me. Dr. Martinez and Ella just stared and John and the dog, which was now licking John's face like lollipop.

"Yours?" I snickered.

"Yeah." John smiled as he lifted him up and got to his feet. "This is Bernie." He added as he held him up.

"Hi, Bernie." I smiled and patted his head. He responded by licking my face.

"Wh-who are you? That dog wouldn't let any of us except Moe near it…" Dr. Martinez stammered. John looked at me.

"John, tell them your story." I replied looking at him. "But," I turned to the Martinez's. "John is…" I paused. "Like me." I sighed. "So, please try to keep an open mind." I watched as their eyes widened. But then, they softened and they both nodded.

And John's story telling began.

~Max P.O.V.~

"We should go back to my mom's house." I offered as we plotted our next move.

"We are only like two hours from there and we should really make sure everything's okay there." Fang agreed with me.

"That's in Arizona, right?" Jane asked from the base of the tree she was sitting at.

"Yeah." I replied.

"That's where I was taken from. I left some stuff there anyway." Jane shrugged.

"Then it's settled; we're going to mom's." I declared and we were in the air within the next ten minutes.

I just hoped nothing big was happening at home.

~Jenna P.O.V.~

"-And that's pretty much it." John finished his story.

"So those are… Chimæras?" Ella asked wide-eyed and gawked at Moe and Bernie.

"Now, see, I'm glad John told you that because I didn't even know what they were called." I shrugged from in my chair. We had moved into the living room about mid-story when I wasn't sure if Dr. Martinez and Ella could stand through anymore of his story. His was way more intense than mine, and frankly, it even freaked me out…

"That's because you're a newbie to our world." John snickered and playfully nudged my arm. Moe growled at him for hitting me from in my lap. John and I chuckled at her and I petted her head. She licked my hand in response.

"Whose motorcycle is that?" Dr. Martinez asked as she peeked behind the drape out the window. I bit my lip and raised my hand sheepishly. "Do you know how dangerous those things are?" She glared at me.

"So, John just finishes a story about how my sister and him destroyed a football field in a fight between them and like ten Mogs, and your worried about me driving a motorcycle?" I questioned amused.

"Exactly." Dr. Martinez smiled.

"Thank you for your concern." I snickered.

"We should get moving." John said a few minutes of answering questions later.

"Right. Ella, I'm leaving Moe here again." I told her as I handed my sleeping dog over to her. "Bye, Moe. I love you." I whispered and kissed her little, copper-colored head. "Bye, Ella." I smiled and squeezed her shoulders lightly.

"Bye, Jenna." She smiled at me.

"Bye, Dr. Martinez." I smiled sweetly at her.

"Bye, Jenna." She replied and threw her arms around me. I was not expecting this. "Stay safe." She whispered into my ear.

"Always do." I replied and I wrapped my arms around my best friend's mother.

"Bye. Thank you for dinner." John said right before we walked out the door.

"You're so welcome. Come back soon, okay?" Dr. Martinez smiled sweetly.

"We'll try." I smiled. And with that, we were on the road. Max and the flock was on my mind and the sun began to set.

I just hope they're safe.

~Max P.O.V.~

"My motorcycle's gone, they've been here." Jane's Aussie accent lit up the house as her and Nudge returned from their walk.

"Who, Jenna? Yeah, they were here a while ago." Ella told us as we sat in the living room.  
"They?" I looked at her.

"Yeah, uh, Jenna, Ari, this blond guy: John, and this dark haired guy: Sam." Ella answered. I looked at Jane.

"That's them." She sighed.

"Great, we missed them." Fang groaned.

"How long ago did they leave?" Jane asked.

"Like and hour and a half ago." Ella replied. "What's going on?" She looked at me. I looked at Jane. She sighed and nodded slowly.

"Okay, Ella, where's mom?" I asked.

"Asleep. Why?" She replied.

"Because I only want to say this once." I sighed. "Explain this to her when she wakes up. Jane is Jenna's older sister-…" I began.

"You! That John guy just told me a story about you! You're number six!" Ella exclaimed. Iggy tried calming her down by rubbing her shoulders but had no luck.

"Yes, I am." Jane replied. "Nine is my younger sister and we're desperately trying to find her. We've been imprisoned by Mogadorians for the passed few days. While we were there, one of them told us that Jenna is in more danger than any of us. I can't let anything happen to her, it would kill me." She finished. Ella's eyes widened.

"Jenna, in danger? But… How? She's… I've never…" Her voice trailed off.

"That's why we need to find her." Iggy said lightly.

"I have no clue where they're going next. I'm so sorry." Ella's voice broke. Iggy pulled her into a hug. Moe pranced into the room and stopped when her eyes fell on Jane.

"Is that… a Chimæra?" Jane asked walking over to and examining Moe.

"Yeah. That's what John called her. I thought she was just Jenna's dog until today. He had one too. Uh-…" Ella replied into Iggy's chest.

"Bernie." Jane answered for her.

"Yeah, Bernie." Ella looked at her. "Jenna leaves her here so my mom and I are protected. Mogadorians have attacked here before." Jane picked Moe up. Moe responded by licking her nose. We all couldn't help snickering at the sheer cuteness of it and even Jane, who had shown almost no emotion since we heard about Jenna, smiled a sincere smile.

"We should get moving. Each second we spend here, they get further away." Jane said after a few minutes.

"Right. Let's hope they stop for the night soon." I agreed. And then we all said our good-byes and were off into the cool night air once more.

About two hours in, I spotted a campfire deep in the woods.

"Guys, down there!" I called. We wordlessly landed about a mile from it so we wouldn't arouse any suspicion. If it's Jenna, we don't want to scare her away. We crept toward the fire slowly and silently; even Nudge wouldn't say a word. Fang and I locked eyes for a moment. I nodded at him, telling him to go in first. He slid his back against the base of a tree and slowly made his way around it without making a sound.

My eyes widened when a dark figure took slammed his body against the ground.

~Jenna P.O.V.~

The fire crackled in front of my eyes. The four of us had found a place to camp for the night and were waiting for sleep to overcome us. I had been dozing of against Ari's chest for the past half an hour.

"Just go to sleep." Ari whispered into my hair.

"No." I moaned forcing my eyes open once more.

"Why not?" He muttered.

"Don't want too." I slurred.

"Well I want you too." Ari snickered.

"Since when do I listen to you?" I snickered right back.

"Good point." He smiled and kissed the back of my head. Then we were silent for a few minutes. A twig snapping awoke me from my weary daze.

"John? Pst. Jonathon? Did you hear that?" I whispered and put my ear against the Earth.

"It was probably just an animal." He replied not even opening his eyes.

"I hear seven two-legged objects coming this way." I told him as I sat up.

"Are you sure?" His eyes ripped open and he sat forward.

"Yup. Vibrations don't lie." I replied. He got up and kicked Sam's shoe lightly. I jabbed Ari in the ribs gently. "Get ready, something's coming." I whispered when his eyes opened. His tired eyes widened as I slowly and silently rose to my feet. I crept to a nearby tree and pressed myself against it. I reached into my jacket and unsheathed my dagger, making sure to cover blue glow so the intruders wouldn't notice it. John did the same about three yards from me. Good. He was close, just in case this got messy.

And now, we wait.

The seconds felt like minutes, the minutes felt like hours as this anxiety-packed, fidget-fest to began to get to me; to my head. Finally, someone foolishly slithered his or her way around the very tree I was perched behind. The first thing I saw, an arm. I instinctively grabbed the arm and twisted it behind its owners back. He yelped in pain as I slammed him to the Earth. I saw John get his arms around someone's neck in the dim lighting. Whoever I was holding managed to twist away and knock me off my feet. I jumped right back up and land a flying roundhouse kick right against my opponents face. He landed near the fire causing his face to light up.

What I saw really shocked me.

"Fang?" I breathed.

"Jenna?" Fang as he forced his eyes open.

"Stop!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I heard all the small fights around me stop suddenly.

"Ari?" I heard Nudge's bell-like voice exclaim.

"Nudge? Max?" Ari exclaimed.

"Four!" An Aussie-accented voice I recognized from my visions shrieked.

"Six!" John screamed excitedly.

"Six?" I heard Sam breathe. "Six!" He yapped and ran behind me. I straitened up almost robotically as I realized my sister was right behind me. I was scared to see her; I truly was. I shook my head and turned my attention to Fang, who was now bleeding against the ground while everyone else continued talking around us.

"Hey, sorry Fang." I whispered as I knelt by his side.

"It's cool." He tried to play it off all cool and junk.

"Brings back memories, doesn't it?" I snickered as I dabbed his gushing nose with a tissue I pulled out of my pocket.

"Oh, yeah. Soccer, your last day!" He chuckled.

"Now we're even." I smiled and handed him the tissue.

"Thanks." He snickered.

"Jenna?" Nudge breathed. I clenched my fists and I heard everything behind me go silent. I felt everyone's eyes on me as I slowly turned around.

"Hey, Nudge." I replied through a shaky voice and smiled the best smile I could muster at this point. And then I saw her. "Hi." I looked at her and looked away quickly like an awkward toad. She responded by walking up to me and throwing her arms around me.

"Do you have any idea how hard you were to track down?" She hissed into my ear. I shrugged against her. "I'm so proud of you!" She squeezed me once more before letting me go. My older sister… Proud of me… Really? I'm so… and her and John are so… yeah…

Three of us together, three left to find… Having Four and Six around me made me realized one thing that was now impeccably clear to me. We can do this.

We _will_ win.

* * *

**Hey kiddies. I know this isn't the most exciting chapter, but it had to be written. But tell me anything you liked or didn't like if you please. Thankies! :3**


	17. Chapter 17

~Max P.O.V.~

We ended up going to a motel for the night. Jenna had passed out on one of the two beds almost as soon as we got here while the rest of us were scattered around the room talking to each other quietly. Ari was sitting next to Jenna's sleeping body on the bed while Iggy sat on the ground near her side. I just hope those two don't fight again… I really hope they can just get along… I wonder if Jane is going to tell John, Sam, and Ari about what we found out a casa de la Mogs…

"Ari, she's asleep, right?" Jane looked at Ari. Ari looked down at Jenna and lightly poked her cheek.

"Yup. She's out." He replied as he looked back to Jane.

"I need to tell you three something that we found out while we were being held captive and I don't want her freaking out." Jane explained. Well, would you look at that? She is.

"What happened?" John asked and sat forward from against the wall.

"One of the Mogs, right before he died, told us that Nine, Jenna, is in the most danger out of any of us." Jane replied. Her eyes that matched Jenna's looked so troubled.

"Are you sure that wasn't just a scare tactic?" John asked. He looked skeptic.

"What do you mean?" Jane replied.

"Like, them trying to scare us into focusing more on protecting-…" John stopped quickly when Jenna suddenly stirred in her sleep.

"Go back to sleep." Ari whispered and wrapped one of his arms around her waist.

"Kay-Kay." Jenna muttered groggily and snuggled against Ari's arm.

"She's asleep." Ari whispered about a minute later. A smile now played at his lips.

"As I was saying, what if they're trying to get us to focus more on protecting her than destroying them." John finished explaining.

"I see your point, however, why would they say her? Why not one of the other numbers that we haven't even found yet? Wouldn't that buy them more time?" Jane questioned.

"Probably. But you two are the only two biological siblings from Lorien still alive. They're probably trying to play with your instincts to protect her in an attempt to distract you since you by far are our best fighter." John replied.

"You're probably right." Jane sighed.

"Just to be safe, we'll keep a closer eye on her until we know for sure." John declared. Jane nodded in agreement. I shot a glance over to Ari and Jenna. He was just watching her sleep; the look in his eyes had changed. Instead of his usual dopey, boyish stare, his eyes were… protective… in a papa bear, she's one of my cubs: you touch her, you die kind of way… Ari looked away from Jenna for a brief second, just long enough for our eyes to meet. I nodded at him. He smiled his usual half smile back at me and then looked back to Jenna. I watched as he brushed some hair out of her face and then I realized: Ari loved Jenna. I looked to Iggy; his face was hard. I could tell that he wanted to be the one next to Jenna.

I really just hope Iggy doesn't do anything stupid.

~Jenna P.O.V.~

I untangled myself from Ari and carefully snuck to the bathroom so I wouldn't step on anybody. Everyone was sleeping. Well, except me. But I had been sleeping since two minutes after we got here. So I was fine. I splashed cool water on my face until I heard a knock at the door.

"Who's there?" I asked and turned off the water.

"Iggy." The voice replied. Great, what did he want?

"Come in." I snapped and grabbed the towel off of the towel rack. I sat down on the edge of the bathtub and dabbed my face as the door slowly open and Iggy slid his way in. "Did I wake you up? I think I might have stepped on you." I looked at him.

"Nah, I was awake." He replied. "And you did, by the way." He snickered.

"Sorry. There's like a million people in there." I chuckled. Why did I just chuckle? I'm mad at this kid!

"Nine, actually. We're in here." Iggy corrected me.

"Oh, my bad." I snickered. Iggy smiled.

"So, how have you been?" Iggy asked after a few minutes when it began to get awkward.

"Great… Been locked in a dog crate for the past few days." I replied.

"I know the feeling. The School sucks." He said and sat down on the closed toilet lid.

"How was the Mogadorian's lair? I've never actually been to one, lucky me." I replied.

"We spent four days locked in a stone dungeon in almost complete darkness… It was fun." He smiled.

"Nice." I snickered.

"It was." His smile suddenly faded. "Jenna," Oh boy, I think I know where this is going. "I missed you." Called it.

"Did you know? Did you also miss Ella?" I snapped and crossed my arms at my chest. "Because that's who missed you."

"Jenna, don't be like this." He replied. His voice sounded hurt… I mean, not that I care though.

"What did you expect me to say? 'Oh Iggy! I missed you too! Come kiss my face!' Because last thing I remember you saying to me was that you didn't want me anymore." I hissed and got to my feet and went to storm out.

"Jenna, wait." Iggy caught my elbow and stopped me before I reached the door. He spun me around so I was facing him and he was standing over me.

"What?" I growled and glared up at his face.

"I'm sorry." He muttered; he still held my arm.

"Yeah, so am I." I snapped and jerked out of his grasp. I left the bathroom and made my way back to the bed Ari, Nudge, and I were sharing. I crept back into it carefully so I wouldn't wake anyone up. Yeah, it didn't work.

"Hey, you okay?" Ari muttered almost in his sleep.

"Yeah. I just had to use the bathroom. Go back to sleep." I whispered and kissed his nose.

"Okay." He groggily smiled and wrapped his arms around me then nuzzled against my neck. He fell back to sleep not even a minute later. I watched Iggy glumly slump back to where he was sleeping and lay back down. I looked away and cuddled against Ari and fell back to sleep not even two minutes later.

I felt familiar lips peck mine in what felt like not even a second later. I opened my eyes to see Ari sitting up next to me.

"Hey." I said sitting up.

"Good morning, sunshine." He smiled. I looked around to see Nudge and Gazzy fighting over the remote, the shower running in the bathroom, Six, Fang, and Max on Fang's laptop, Bernie resting against Six's foot, and Angel was sitting next to him petting his fur.

"Where are Iggy, Sam, and Four?" I asked Ari.

"Iggy's in the shower, Sam and John went on a food run." Ari explained.

"Ah." I replied and stretched out my arms and legs.

Pretty soon, Iggy came out of the bathroom and plopped himself down next to Gazzy and Nudge on the adjacent bed. The door opened in the next minute. The irresistible smell of food penetrated the air. I flashed over to get first dibs.

"You're fast." Four snickered as I was suddenly in his face.

"I am literally starving, you guys are so slow." I whined and reached into the bag and pulled out food. I went back to the bed that I had slept in and sat in the middle of it cross-legged and began stuffing my face. Ari came and sat next to me and just looked at me. "What?" I muffled through a packed mouth. "Want a bite?" I mumbled and held out whatever it was that I was eating; I didn't even know…

"No," He snickered and pushed whatever it was back at me. I swallowed hard and looked at him.

"Okay." I shrugged and went back to eating. Ari just shook his heath and looked amused. I finished my food and threw my junk away then sat back down. Since I was the first one who got food, I was the first one done. I felt so lonely being the only one just sitting there without food… Oh, well. That only lasted like three minutes and then everyone was done. Max, Fang, and Six went back to the laptop this time joined by Four. I sat back against the headrest of the bed.

"Max, when are we leaving?" Nudge asked.

"Pretty soon. We're just for possible place any other Lorics could be." Max replied.

"We're looking for the others?" I sat forward.

"Yes. Since we're together now, we should prepare for what's coming." Six looked at me. I nodded and sat back. Crap… I don't want to find the others… Not yet anyway… "Jenna, relax." Ari whispered into my ear and then kissed my head. Without realizing it, I had picked up Ari's hand and was squeezing it… really hard… I released and sighed. I saw Six turn away and look back to the screen. I turned my attention to the TV and about ten minutes later, we were ready to go.

"So, where are we going now?" I asked after we were in the air. I was too skittish to ask anything that might be considered a stupid question in front of my sister… So I waited to ask Max.

"Washington D.C." Max replied. "We found police records that seemed too… flashy… for any normal human."

"Ah. Any clue on what number?" I pried.

"We're not even sure he is one. We're just checking him out." Fang answered for Max.

"Okay." I replied. One thing was for sure: going from Arizona to Washington D.C. was going to take forever… I squinted behind my aviators and through clouds. I saw Four's truck led by Six's crotch rocket, it felt good to know they were close. I mean like, for protection… Not like… yeah… you know…

"Jenna?" I looked around. Once again, Nudge had flown next to me and started talking and I completely missed everything that she said… My bad…

"Wait, what?" I looked at her.

"I said, are you happy you found others like you?" She repeated.

"Sure… Let's go with that." I shrugged.

"What's wrong?" Nudge asked.

"Of course I'm happy I found them; they're like me. It's just, now that we're together, we have to find everyone else." I replied.

"Is that bad?" She pried.

"N-no. But the others might be in different countries all over the world." I answered. She raised an eyebrow. "I might have to leave again to go find them." I sighed.

"Oh." She finally understood.

"Yeah." I replied and shoved my hands into my jacket pockets.

"Well, you're here now, and you're staying until they force you to leave." Max cut in from ahead of us. She had been listening. I looked around just to see that everyone had been listening. When I made eye contact with Fang, he nodded in agreement.

"Thanks." I beamed at Max.

"You don't need to thank me, you're part of this flock now." Max glanced at me. Our eyes met for just a second. I honestly don't know how, but my smile grew. I was so happy that I actually had people here who actually wanted me around…

About three hours later, we landed to take a break. Sam, Six, and Four pulled up a few minutes later.

"Where are we?" Max asked.

"Somewhere in Texas. We're making great time." Four told Max.

"Good." Max replied and slumped against a tree. I sat next to Ari at the base of a different tree as the others continued talking. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer.

"You okay?" He whispered in my ear when I laid my head on his shoulder.

"Yeah. Just tired." And scared, upset, hungry…

"You sure?" He pried.

"Yup. Just tired." I assured him and closed my eyes. I felt him kiss my head. I must've fallen asleep or something because the next thing I heard was Iggy and Nudge screaming at each other. "What's going on?" I murmured sleepily against Ari's shoulder.

"Nothing. Nudge and Iggy are just being idiots." He whispered to me.

"Like usual." I snickered and sat up. "Iggy, Nudge, why are you two screaming at each other?" I glared at them.

"This idiot," Nudge gestured to Iggy. "Says that I look bad today!" Nudge yelled.

"Okay, first thing, Iggy's blind. He can't actually see you. And second, we all look like hobos. None of us have showered in days." I told her.

"You know, she has a point." Max shrugged as she leaned against Fang's shoulder.

"Thanks, Max." I smiled at her. "So, you two just really just need to calm down." I turned to Nudge who still looked mad. "But Nudge, in my opinion, you're one foxy hobo." I winked at her.

"Thanks, Jenna." Nudge laughed.

"Anytime, love. Now, when are we taking off?" I looked back to Max.

"Probably pretty soon." She looked to Six and Four.

"Whenever." My sister's Aussie accent sang.

"Now?" Four shrugged.

"Why not." Max shrugged and stood up. Everyone started getting to his or her feet. Ari got up and then helped me up. I did not want to move.

"Okay," Four looked at Max. "If we keep the pace were going we should be to D.C. by either late tonight or tomorrow. Have Nine contact us if you want to stop and rest again." He told her.

"Got it." Max nodded. Then, Six got on her motorcycle and started it. She beckoned me over to her. I went to my sister.

"Are you okay? You seem… off." She said.

"What, me, off? Psh, yeah right." I replied in an unsure tone.

"Okay, when you feel like telling someone what's really wrong, I'm here for you. Just so you know." She told me and started her bike.

"Thanks." I smiled at her and turned around to see Four whispered something to Max and then they glanced at me. Well. I feel self-conscious now…

"Let's go." Max ripped away from Four and we took off into the air. We reached cruising altitude and soared through the air. It was getting colder outside; it would be winter soon. That's going to suck… I sighed and let my mind wander so the long flight wouldn't seem so bad. I didn't know how long we had been flying for when Iggy flew to my side.

"What's up?" I crossed my arms.

"Just seeing how you're doing." Iggy replied.

"Pretty okay I'd say. And yourself?" I told him. I looked at his face, his pale, sightless eyes, the lips that I had kissed what seemed like so long ago now… I ripped my gaze away.

"Fine, I guess." He shrugged.

"Good." I replied.

"I guess so." He shrugged again.

"Stop guessing." I snickered.

"Never." He smiled. I felt a hand slip into mine. I turned to see Ari. I hadn't even noticed him fly to me. I squeezed his hand in mine and smiled at him. He smiled back as I noticed Iggy fall behind Ari and I.

"Hey." Ari muttered when Iggy was gone.

"Hey." I replied.

"You look cold." He told me.

"I am actually freezing." I shrugged.

"I noticed. Your hand is shaking." He snickered.

"Oh, you're still holding my hand?" I looked at our hands that were in fact still together. "Can't even feel it." I chuckled. "How long have we been flying? I kind of zoned out for a while."

"Like two hours." Ari shrugged.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"I have no clue. Sorry." He replied.

"Oh well." I shrugged and shoved my numb hands into my pockets. I allowed myself to zone out again.

"Jenna? Hey, you alive back there?" A voice suddenly ripped me out of my thoughts.

"Huh?" I shook my head and looked around. I saw Max looking back at me through the darkness. When did the sun go down? "Sorry, what?" I asked.

"Tell Jane, John, and Sam that we want to stop." Max told me.

"On it." I pulled out Six's phone that she had let me borrow to stay in contact with them on the ground. I quickly texted Sam and we landed five minutes later. It was so much warmer on the ground then it was in the air… Just saying.

"Where are we?" Max asked Four.

"Somewhere in Tennessee." John replied. "We passed the welcome sign about an hour ago." He added.

"We need to get some kind of food." Sam whined from the base of a tree.

"He's right." Six agreed. "I can hear my sister's stomach growling from here."

"Love you too, sissy." I glared at her. She smiled crookedly and turned to Four.

"What's around here?" She asked.

"No clue." He shrugged. "Let's go to the nearest town and see what we can find." Four told us. Max and Six nodded.

"You want to ride with me?" Six looked at me.

"Can I?" I breathed.

"Yeah. Hop on." She said as she straddled her bike. I glanced at Max who nodded and grinned.

"Okay. Fly safe guys!" I smiled and got on Six's bike with her.

"Try to hold still." She ordered.

"I'll try." I snickered as she popped it in D. I watched the Flock and Ari take to the skies and Six and I followed behind John and Sam. About ten minutes later, we reached a tiny town. I watched the Flock land in a mess of trees and meet up with us in the only diner this town had to offer.

"Wait, we have no money…" Four muttered before we went in.

"Actually, I stole my protector's credit card… and her ATM card… and her debit card… We have plenty of money…" I held up the three cards.

"Why-?" Four began.

"Don't ask." I cringed when I remembered her betrayal. Four nodded and the eleven of us walked in. The server lady glared at us. I can't really blame her… We look like a group of shifty teenagers… because we are a group of shifty teenagers… Funny…

"Table for eleven." Four said awkwardly.

"Do you mind being broken up?" The lady asked in a southern accent.

"Not at all." Four replied.

"Follow me." She told us. We were sat in booths all around the diner. Ari and I sat next to each other and Nudge and Sam were across from us. Max and Fang were sitting together across from Six and Four. Iggy got stuck next to Gazzy and Angel was across from them. "Is this all on one bill?" I heard her ask Four from across the restaurant. I saw him mouth yes but his voice didn't carry like the snippy waitress's did. She took everyone else's orders before coming to my table. "Can I take your order?" She asked. Her eyes were bored. She glared at Sam first. He mumbled something that I didn't hear and the lady, I glanced at her nametag, Marge, scribbled something on her notepad. She turned her glare on Nudge. She ordered something quickly and Marge scribbled in her notepad again. She got to me. I ordered chicken fingers and hoped Marge didn't stab me with those daggers she calls eyes. She then got to Ari who nervously ordered pizza. Marge left and brought our drinks a few minutes later.

"She is freaking scary. I'd rather be taking down Mogadorians then talk to her again." I whispered after she was gone.

"Me too. If eyes could kill, we'd all be dead." Sam replied.

"Right?" I snickered and sipped my Sprite. Twenty minutes later, Marge finally brought our food. She set my half cold chicken fingers in front of me and gave me one last dagger-eye stab and walked away. "Well, someone's not getting a very big tip." I broke the silence at my table. I took a bit of my disgusting food and made a face.

"This burger sucks." Nudge growled.

"So does my pizza." Ari muttered.

"This place is horrible." I sighed and finished off one of my chicken fingers.

"It really does." Sam mumbled. A half an hour later, everyone was done. Marge came back and handed me the receipt. I handed her Marianne's credit card.

"A little young to have a credit card, aren't we?" She looked at me.

"No ma'am. I'm eighteen…" I lied.

"You look younger." She raised an eyebrow.

"Thank you." I replied. She shrugged and walked away with the card. A few minutes later, she brought something back for me to sign. I signed it under Marianne's name so no suspicion would be raised. We all made a mad dash outside within the next minute.

Pretty soon, we were on the move again. I was back in the air where I belonged. We were all tired and would need to stop again soon to sleep at least a few hours. But for now we were making progress.

We would be to D.C. soon, closer to whatever number could be there. I hope whoever this guy thinks he is actually exists or we just wasted a lot of time.

* * *

**Hey my beautiful readers! I'm so sorry this took forever to get posted. I've been super duper busy. Sadface. But I'm not busy now! ;D I shall try to update more often and stuff! I love all of you. Happy Holidays! :3 **


	18. Chapter 18

I popped my aviators off my face just as the sun had disappeared for good. I looked through the darkness at Ari's strong figure. I watched him fly for a few minutes before he finally caught me looking at him. Then I just blushed and looked away. The fun thing about being able to read minds is that when you want to look at someone and try to guess what they're thinking you can actually know what they're thinking with no looking what so ever! It's kind of like a cheat sheet when you like someone and are to shy to actually glance at him or her… I mean… not that I would know or anything… because I mean… dah, who am I kidding…

I like Ari; there, I said it.

I mean, I guess it's obvious… I've had my mouth all up on his for the past few weeks now… Oh, well. It's not like I tried to fall in some kind of love, and it is not going to distract me from my main purpose here on Earth.

But like I said, you can really hear what the person you like thinks of you. Sometimes it's helpful and other times you really just wish you didn't know. Like right now for example, Ari was thinking about me in a good way: helpful, however, Iggy thinking how he still likes me: I really just wish I didn't know. It just depends on who and the time.

'Jenna's so cute when she's thinking.' Ari's head told me. I allowed myself to glance over at him, his eyes were locked on my and I could swear that he's blushing. Aww, I love it when guys blush! 'I wonder what she's-…" His mind suddenly cut off. My head snapped up. I looked around and noticed he was still looking at me; everything was exactly the same as when I looked up last time.

Except one thing was different.

I couldn't hear anyone's thoughts. At all. Even if I focused on someone intently, I got nothing. All I heard was the whooshing air as it blew past my ears.

"Jenna? You okay?" Ari flew beside me as the pounding in my head began.

"Y-yeah. F-fine." I muttered unsteadily as we continued forward.

"You sure?" His stare turned worried.

"P-probably." I stammered as my body slowly became heavier and heavier.

"Max, I think something's wrong with Jenna." Ari called up to Max.

"Jenna's perfectly fine guys." I snapped as everyone looked at me and I began slowly losing altitude.

"Jenna-?" Max began as the Earth began rushing its way to me to say hello.

"Holy shit!" I screamed as my free fall began. All I could do was scream my lungs out as my suddenly powerless body got a crash course in gravitational force. I tried helplessly to levitate myself back into the air with no luck; I just fell faster. I dove through a cloud and caught a glimpse at the grassy surface rushing toward my face terrifyingly fast. I saw the red crotch rocket leading the dark pick-up truck with my sister, Four, and Sam probably just gawking as I fell. I watched as the Earth grew closer and closer. Was this it? Was this how I was going to die? I squeezed my eyes shut and quieted my screams in preparations to take my last breath just as I felt arms slide around my waist.

My eyelids ripped apart and I heard whines involuntarily rip their way through my throat as I flung my arms around whoever had saved my life's neck and wrapped my legs around their waist.

"It's okay, Jenna, you're okay. I've got you." I heard Ari's voice whisper soothingly into my ear. A few seconds later, Ari landed on his knees and held me against his chest. "Jenna calm down. Your heart is racing." Ari murmured as the whimpering ripping through me stopped.

"Is she okay?" I heard a frantic Australian accent hiss, as it grew closer.

"Ari how is she?" Iggy's voice ripped through the trees as he and the Flock landed.

"She's fine, terrified and shaking like a Chiwawa, but she'll be fine." Ari told everyone against my neck.

"What happened?" Four's voice growled.

"No clue. She just started falling." Max explained.

"Jenna, honey, your okay. You're on the ground now. You can let go." Ari whispered into my ear. My death grip around his neck loosened and my legs uncoiled from around his waist. I felt myself slump against his lap. My breath was still ragged and uneven from horror. A few minutes of composing myself later, I shook my head and stood up.

"Jenna, are you okay?" Max asked as everyone rushed over to me.

"I don't really know. I can't read anyone's mind right now and obviously I can't levitate. This is weird. Can our powers… fade?" I turned to Four and Six. They both looked dumbfounded.

"It's never happened to me…" Four shrugged and turned to Six.

"Me either…" She breathed.

"Great, so I'm just broken. Yippie." I slid down the trunk of a tree.

"Are all of your legacies gone?" Four looked at me.

"No clue." I shrugged.

"Um, Jenna?" Angel's voice peeped.

"Yeah Angel?" I looked at her.

"Um, if it means anything, I can read your mind like everyone else's. I usually can't read yours easily…" She told me. I took a deep breath and thought deeply what could possibly be wrong with me.

"Try something and see if it works?" Sam shrugged from beside Four.

"Yeah, I should." I sighed and got to my feet.

"Remember that day the we first kissed? You got really mad and snapped a tree in half." Iggy reminded me. Ari stiffened next to me.

"T-that broken tree was from you?" Fang slowly turned to me.

"Yeah." I shrugged and stood back to my feet.

"Try to do that again." Six ordered.

"Okay." I nodded and found a thicker tree that looked great for punching. I let my fist snap forward and collide with the wide trunk. The only noise I heard was the cracking sound of all of my knuckles breaking. "Mother trucker!" I screamed and cradled my throbbing hand against my chest. I heard a chorus of sighs around me as I slumped against the tree I couldn't crack. I turned to see everyone exchanging glances, concerned glances. Now would be a great time to break out the mind reading… thanks for nothing body.

"M-maybe your just exhausted." My sister suggested.

"Maybe." I shrugged.

"Let's stop here for the night." Four said. "It's dark out anyway. We should just sleep now and get a head start in the morning." He added.

"Good idea. Fang, build a fire." Max replied.

"Want help?" I looked at Fang.

"No. You go to sleep as soon as possible. I want your powers back by morning." Six ordered me and sat down beside me.

"I'll try, but we don't know if that's going to happen, or if they'll come back at all. Or even why they're gone." I sighed.

"No. None of that." My sister snapped at me. "Go to sleep." She ordered again. Our eyes locked for a second before I looked away and reluctantly rested my head against my backpack and waited for sleep to come over my newly powerless body.

~Max P.O.V.~

"So she just started falling?" John asked me for like the fifth time. Jenna had fallen asleep about an hour ago. Her sister hadn't left her side once yet.

"Yeah. Ari said he thought something was wrong with her and then she dropped." I explained yet again.

"Do you think this is what the Mogs were talking about when they said she was in the most danger out of any of us? Her powers are unstable?" Jane's accent droned as she watched her sister sleep.

"Maybe." John sighed as he looked to Jenna. "Until her powers return, she's vulnerable to just about everything after us." John's troubled stare turned back to me.

"We have to protect her." Ari growled from beside me.

"Protection can only go so far." Jane squeezed her eyes shut and leaned against a tree.

"Hey, you both should just relax. I'm powerless and I'm still alive. Your protection details work fine. We've faced our fair share of Mogs together." Sam shrugged from next to Iggy.

"Yeah, but now there's two of you to protect." John's eyes met Sam's.

"Good point." Sam shank back.

"Jenna's powers will come back, won't they?" Angel peeped.

"It's hard to say, sweetie." I told her.

"Well this is depressing." Iggy muttered as his eyes fluttered closed.

"It is. Let's all just get some sleep." Fang spoke up.

"Fang's right. Let's get an early start in the morning." Jane's fragile sounding voice told us. Without another word, we all noiselessly laid down and tried to go to sleep. I found myself restless on the ground next to Fang and Ari. I could tell Ari and Fang were too. I found Fang's hand and squeezed it. He silently turned toward me in the darkness. I snuggled closer to him as he wrapped one of his arms around my shoulders.

"What state are we in?" I whispered in his ear.

"North Carolina. Were near mountains and the ocean. D.C. should be a straight flight for us." Fang whispered.

"Good. We came a long way today." I murmured sleepily as sleep was finally starting to overcome me.

"We did. I'm proud of all of them." Fang replied. I looked up to see a smile playing at his lips. "Go to sleep, Max." Fang whispered and kissed my head.

"Okay." I muttered and fell asleep almost instantly against Fang's arms.

"Everybody, wake up." An unfamiliar, ruff voice ripped me from my dreams. My eyes opened to see dark figures standing over us in our campsite. Fang, Ari, and I slowly sat up with our eyes locked on whatever was around us. "All of you, on your feet." The voice ripped through the air. Everyone slowly got to their feet when they realized whoever was in front of our faces had a large gun strapped to their chest. I noticed Jane throw a protective arm in front of Jenna and John do the same for Sam. Fang shoved Gazzy and Angel behind him. I pulled Ari closer to me just as Fang did the same with Iggy who had a protective arm around Nudge. Then, in the dim lighting of the sun that was just beginning to rise, we realized that the Mog standing in front of us was not alone. Nine or ten Mogs stood in front of us and who else other then Marianne, Jenna's failure of a protector. I glanced over to Jenna; her eyes were locked on Marianne just as Marianne's eyes were locked on Jenna. I watched her, Jane, and John all pull their florescent blue glowing daggers.

"Jenna, drop it." Marianne ordered in her mother voice.

"Kiss my as-…"

"Children, really, no blood has to be shed here." The Mogadorian suddenly cut Jenna off.

"The only blood being shed here will be yours." Jane growled in her suddenly hostile Aussie accent.

"I feared this." The Mog sighed. "Get them." He ordered. "I want as many alive as we can get, especially the Lorics." He smiled wickedly, as everyone started moving at once. I saw Jane shove Jenna behind her and slowly begin to back into the trees. Ari and Sam moved quickly over to them. Jenna needed all the protection she could get; she was still weak. Marianne and four Mogs slithered after them.

"Max, go with them." John called to me. "Jane and Ari will need help keeping Nine and Sam in check." He added before he, Fang, and Iggy rushed the Mogs. I did what John told me and disappeared into the trees and flew into the air until I spotted the four people running up the mountain. I landed next to them and ran with them.

"I hoped you'd come." Jane glanced back at me as we ran. I smirked at her as we ran through the last of the trees and reached the mountaintop.

"They're coming!" Sam exclaimed as we slowly caught our breath.

"What's the plan?" Jenna asked as she panted. I don't think I've ever seen her this tired ever before.

"The plan is for you and Sam to stay behind us and not get killed." Jane growled.

"So stand behind like a scared baby?" Jenna raised an eyebrow.

"Nine, you're still weak from what happened yesterday and only have your knife on you. Anyone gets close to you or Sam, use it, he's totally unarmed. We'll cover you." Jane explained to Jenna. Jenna clearly wanted to kick major butt, but sadly accepted the fact that she couldn't right now. She stepped in front of Sam as Ari, Jane, and I got in front of them just as the Mogs led by Marianne reached us on the mountaintop.

"Jenna, we know you're powerless. It doesn't have to be this way." Marianne tried to convince Jenna to give up.

"Powers don't make the Loric." Jenna growled back. Marianne sighed.

"Attack." She told the Mogs she was leading. Then, four Mogs rushed us. They came right at each of us while, trying to get us away from Jenna and Sam so Marianne could get to them. A Mog pushed passed Jane and reached Jenna. He picked her up and threw her across the clearing. She stopped only when her body slammed against a tree and then crashed onto the ground below near the mountain's edge.

"Jenna!" Ari exclaimed.

"I'm fine, Ari." She called back through a weak voice.

"Not for long." The Mog hissed. I saw Marianne approach Jenna and the Mog. That could be bad. A beefy fist whizzed by my head only missing by millimeters.

Note to self: pay attention.

"Max, watch yourself!" Jane called to me.

"Trying too!" I replied and kicked someone in the chest. They flew backwards and flopped on the ground. I noticed Jane desperately trying to get to Jenna who was now on her feet using her self-defense skills to keep herself alive. Ari still stood protectively in front of Sam. He kept glancing over his shoulder at Jenna making sure she was safe-ish. I slammed my fist into the Mog's face while they were on the ground just as I watched Jane's Mog go up in ashes. She rushed to the one that I was working on just as we heard Jenna shriek.

Jane and I turned around just in time to see someone go up in ashes and the worst part was: Jenna was nowhere to be seen.

Just Marianne stood there, her dagger pointed as if someone had been standing before her not a second earlier.

"W-where d-did Jenna go?" I stammered to Jane. Her eyes that matched Jenna's threatened to bulge out of their sockets. The Mog took advantage of our frozen states and grabbed both of us roughly by our hair and threw us to the ground.

"Watch them." He hissed at Marianne and then went to help the other Mog now dealing with a pissed off Ari. Marianne stalked over to us with an evil smirk on her face.

"Y-you k-killed…" Jane's voice trailed off. Her face was still frozen in terror.

"Aww, Six, just relax. She won't be the last." Marianne turned her wicked stare to Jane's face. I looked over to the pile of ash where Jenna last stood. Could that be-

"We came right as we heard the scream." John's voice ripped through the clearing. I glanced over and saw everyone standing in the entrance to the mountaintop. But where there was prey, there were predators. The other Mogs soon joined us on the mountaintop.

More fights broke out. Sam was soon thrown next to Jane and I. I still just couldn't believe what just happened. Jenna was… No… Jenna can't be… She's always been so… I couldn't even finish my thoughts as my eyes made their way back to the pile of ash.

"D-did you two see what happened?" Sam whispered.

"N-no. I looked just as she went up." Jane replied through an unsteady voice.

"Me too." His eyes turned watery. Just then, one of the Mogs slammed the butt of their gun into Ari's head; he was out cold. In fact, the Mogs overpowered everyone. Soon, we were all subdued and in captivity once more. The Mogadorian who looked like the leader stepped forward.

"Where is-…"

"Nine got him before I got her." Marianne cut in.

"You killed Nine? Wasn't she yours?" He turned to her. Marianne nodded. "Good for you." He smiled wickedly at her. I looked around at all the stunned faces. I still couldn't believe she was gone myself. This was… So unreal… I mean, the flock and I thought Jenna was dead once…

But she actually was this time…

And to top it off, she was standing right next to me not twenty minutes ago… I couldn't believe this.

"Well, let's get back to the base. It's a long drive." Marianne beckoned everyone along. She didn't even show regret for what she did to Jenna even though she was almost her mother.

"Marianne is right. Let's go." The Mog leader said and we were led away. I noticed Angel staring at the cliff's edge intently before she was pushed away by the Mog that was carrying Ari's limp body. We were all thrown into a dark, metal semi-trailer and left there, as the truck roared to life started moving.

~Ari P.O.V.~

Where the hell am I? Am I moving? Why the hell does my head hurt so bad? Where's Jenna? I want her next to me right now. I want her with me, holding my hand, telling me everything is going to be okay. I want to know she's okay. I need to know she's okay.

My eyelids ripped apart and I didn't see Jenna anywhere. Where is she? I need to know. I need her.

"Ari, you awake?" Fang's voice cut through the darkness.

"Yeah." I replied and sat up ignoring all the pain ripping through my body. I looked over to where his voice was coming from and saw Max with her head on his shoulder. Was she crying? I looked from face to face; everyone had the same depressed, grief-stricken expressions. Even Six, the badass super-chick that wasn't Jenna, was crying against Four's shoulder. "What the hell is going on?" I asked.

"W-what do you remember?" Max asked me. Her voice was shaky and broken.

"You, Jenna, Six, Sam, and me reaching the top of the mountain." I replied after thinking for a few seconds.

"Well, after we got there," She stopped for a second, as Six's sobs got louder. I saw Four's arm around her shoulders tighten. Max took a deep breath. "After we got there, the Mogs came. Fights broke out. P-people got hurt." She stopped after her voice broke again. Something snapped in my head.

"Where's Jenna?" I snapped and looked around. I saw tears flow down Nudge's cheeks as Iggy wrapped an arm around her.

"Jenna's dead, Ari." Max said quickly before she could start crying again.

"Sh-she c-can't be dead…" I heard myself stammer. "I-I remember that one day, at the School, that chick Jenna was screaming at said that she wasn't next in line and they can't die out of order!" I screamed as the memories started rushing back to me.

"W-we don't know how it happened. That's exactly what we thought too. But Six, Sam, and Max saw her go up in ashes." Four told me just as that memory hit me like a speeding truck.

"O-oh my G-god…" I said in a voice that didn't even sound like me. Jenna, my Jenna, was dead… I wasn't there for her when she needed me most and she paid the ultimate price for my mistake…

"Ari, don't even think about blaming yourself." Max read my mind somehow. I just stayed quiet and shrunk against the wall of whatever we were in as every memory that I had of Jenna came back to me. Every kiss, every touch instantly replayed themselves on loop in my brain. Our first kiss when she was still messing around with Iggy, that night we spent together in that motel, her venom-spewing mouth when she kicked my ass the first time I meet her… She was everything to me, and now she's gone…

I loved her… with all my heart…

I shrunk back further against the wall as the tears overflow out of my eyes. I didn't only want Jenna with me; I needed her by my side… Her voice calmed me down even when I thought I had already lost it… She saved me so many times… and I wasn't there to save her the one time she needed me…

I am so sorry, Jenna. I love you, baby.

* * *

**Hey good lookin' what's cookin'? This will probably be the last post of the year... So... Happy New Year and all that. Hope the last few days of 2012 are as magical as ever! I hope you liked this chapter. If you didn't tell me so I can fix whatever was bad. Tell me what you thought! Love you! :DDD **


	19. Chapter 19

~Jenna P.O.V.~

Was I dead? I was floating, and not in the usual way I float… No, this time was different. I was weightless, like a feather floating on air… whisking in the wind… Was this all that was on the other side? Wait… I was getting something…

This was a vision…

I saw his face… his dark hair, his brown eyes… His necklace dangled at his chest… He was number five…

"I saw everything, she's one of us." His deep, British accented voice spoke.

"Allen, we can't be sure…" A nervous voice replied with the same accent.

"Titus, look at her necklace. It's a symbol. And even if she's not, we can't just leave her; she moves, she falls to her death. Loric or not, we can't leave her." His voice grew edgy. What were they…?

"Fine," The other man looked over the edge. I followed his example and saw… me… My limp, lifeless, bloody body… lying on a narrow ledge about twelve feet down the face of the mountain… above the crashing waves of the Atlantic ocean… "How do we know she's even alive?" Titus questioned. His brown hair flopped in his nervous, beady eyes.

"Guess we won't know until we get to her, will we?" Allen smirked and leaped over the edge.

"Allen, please be careful!" Titus cried as the boy landed in front of my head.

"Would you just calm down? All the Mogs left when they took those humans." Allen growled as he knelt beside me. I materialized closer to the boy. "Who are you?" He whispered to my unconscious body and I felt his pale fingers graze my cheek. It was weird feeling a touch when it's not actually you being touched… But it was me… Just not-this was confusing…

His fingers slid down to my neck and checked my pulse then picked up my necklace lying on my chest.

"She's alive." He called. Well, that was good to know… I was alive… cool…

"How are you going to get her up?" The other guy called down to him. Allen carefully slipped one of his arms under my neck and sat me up. "Careful! We don't know if she's hurt!" Titus hissed.

"Then get your ass down here and help me be careful!" Allen growled. Titus sighed and leaped over the edge as well. He landed right on top of ghost me that was watching everything. I floated over the edge of the ledge and watched the men carefully pick me up. As soon as I was scooped into Allen's arms, Titus climbed back up the face of the rock. When he was up, Allen jumped from the ledge and his feet landed on the cliff's edge. This kid could jump! I looked down and saw all the blood that my body had left behind just as my world began… to… fade…

My eyes opened slowly. I was on a bed? Where am I? I glanced across the room and saw my backpack. I stuck my hand up and tried to levitate it to me. Oh yeah, my powers weren't working… I tried to sit up on the bed.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you." A deep voice made me jump causing mass pain to rip through my body. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." That Allen guy from my vision stepped out of the shadows of the corner. I glared at him. "You lost a lot of blood from a stab wound on your stomach. Plus you were thrown down a cliff. You may be a little bit achy." His accent droned on. "Also, your in your bra. Just letting you know." I lifted the blanket I was under and sure enough, I had no shirt on. My stomach had bloody gauze wrapped all around it.

"W-where am I?" I peeped out through a weak voice.

"My house in D.C. Look Jenna, I saw the scars on your leg, I know you're Loric. Now the question is, which one?" He crossed his arms at his chest, just below his necklace.

"How d-do you know m-my name?" I asked.

"Your number." He demanded.

"Y-you first." I growled.

"Number five." His accented voice confirmed what my vision had showed me.

"Number nine." I rested my head back against the pillow and tiredly gazed at Five's face.

"Go back to sleep, we'll talk when you wake up." He sighed.

"Wait," I called before he walked out of the room.

"Hm?" He turned back to me.

"H-how did you know my name?" I almost whispered.

"You're ID in your backpack, Ms. Jenna Parker." He told me.

"Wh-what's yours?" I mumbled as sharp pains ripped their way through me.

"Allen Jeffries. My protector's name is Titus. We guess that the truck and the motorcycle that were near where we found you where yours so we brought them here." He told me.

"They were, thank you." I muttered.

"You're welcome." He smirked. "Now go to sleep. You need to rest." He whispered and left the room. I whimpered in pain against the pillow and allowed my eyes to close. I felt safe enough here to let my body relax and drift into a deep sleep.

I awoke in a panic as what happened on that mountaintop haunted my dreams. Ignoring the pain it caused, I shot up in bed hold the blanket close to me.

"Easy. Hey, what happened?" I heard Allen's deep, accented voice call to me. I felt him sit down on the edge of the bed. "Jenna?" He put a hand on my shoulder.

"Bad dream…" I replied as I tried to catch my breath.

"What was it about?" He asked.

"W-what happened at the mountaintop." I told him.

"What did happen up there? How did you end up over the cliff?" The other accented guy, Titus, appeared in the doorway. My eyes widened. One thing my vision neglected to clarify, Titus was huge, at least 6'11! "I know, I know. I'm really tall." He sighed. "That's everyone's initial reaction." He explained as he entered the room, having to duck under the doorframe. "Now, what happen on the mountaintop?" He asked again when he sat on the end of the bed.

"Well…" I began.

~Flashback~

"Everybody, wake up." An unfamiliar, ruff voice awakened me from my sleep. I looked up to see dark figures standing over our campsite. Six and I sat up slowly, our eyes locked on the figures. "All of you, on your feet." The voice growled on. My sister and I slowly stood up; she threw a protective arm in front of me. The sun slowly began to rise, showing the nine or ten Mogs standing before us with Marianne close by. Six and I exchanged glances and pulled our daggers, hers from her belt loop, mine from my jacket. I heard Four do the same.

"Jenna, drop it." Marianne ordered me in her stern mother voice.

"Kiss my as-…" I blurted out.

"Children, really, no blood has to be shed here." The Mogadorian suddenly cut me off.

"The only blood being shed here will be yours." My sister growled in her suddenly hostile Australian accent.

"I feared this." The Mog sighed. "Get them." He ordered. "I want as many alive as we can get, especially the Lorics." He smiled wickedly, his eyes shifting from my face to Six's to Four's just as everyone started moving at once.

"Come on." Six hissed, grabbed my wrist and pulled me behind her. I glanced back and saw Four shove Sam to Ari and those two take off behind us.

"Where are we going?" Sam questioned as we ran.

"Up the mountain. The Mogs will be easier to take down while separated." Six explained just as Max landed before us. "I hoped you'd come." Six glanced at Max who was now running at my side. I saw her smirk back just as we ran through the last of the trees and reached the peak of the mountain.

"They're coming!" Sam exclaimed as we stopped running.

"What's the plan?" I asked as I panted. I don't think I have ever been this tired in my life!

"The plan is for you and Sam to stay behind us and not get killed." Six growled.

"So stand behind like a scared baby?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Nine, you're still weak from what happened yesterday and only have your knife on you. Anyone gets close to you or Sam, use it, he's totally unarmed. We'll cover you." My sister explained. I hated the way I was powerless and weak. I just want to kick some Mogadorian butt! Guess I can't right now. Next time for sure.

I nodded at my sister and stepped in front of Sam as Ari, Max, and Six stepped in front of us. Soon after, Marianne and her merry group of Mogadorians stepped into view.

"Jenna, we know you're powerless. It doesn't have to be this way." Marianne tried to convince me to give up.

"Powers don't make the Loric." I growled back. Marianne sighed.

"Attack." She told the Mogs that were following her. Then, four Mogs rushed us. One came at each of them, trying to break them apart to get to Sam and I. A Mog soon pushed passed my sister and reached me. He picked me up like I was a pebble and threw me across the clearing. I stopped only when my body slammed against a tree and then crashed onto the ground below near the mountain's edge.

"Jenna!" Ari exclaimed.

"I'm fine, Ari." I called back through a weak voice. Pain rippled through my body as I got to my feet.

"Not for long." The Mog hissed. I saw Marianne approaching us from behind, creepy Mog knife in hand. I grabbed my dagger from where I had dropped it when I fell. The Mog pulled his own knife from his jacket. I saw the gun he had hidden in his dark overcoat. "Drop it, Nine." The Mog continued. "You're powerless, remember? We promise the least harm will come to you if you just-…" I cut him off and leaped at him. I sliced deep into his right arm causing him to drop his knife. I kicked his knife over the edge and jumped back as he wailed in pain. His red, beady eyes met mine as he grabbed the knife out of Marianne's hand and shot at me. He slammed me against a slab of rock, his hand squeezing around my neck. "You are going to pay for that." He growled and stabbed his knife into my side. I tried to scream no sound came from my lips. Instead, I spat of blood all over the Mog's ugly, deformed face. I could sense that the Mog was about to twist his blade inside of me, then, everything would be over. I'd be just another pile of fallen Loric left to blow away in the wind. "Goodbye, Nine." The Mog smiled wickedly as I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for everything to be over. I heard a grunt from the Mog and then I flopped onto the ground. Was this what it felt like to be dead? I opened my eyes and lifted my head out of the dirt. "Marianne, what are you doing?" He hissed at her as my protector slammed his head against a rock. She got up and pulled me to my feet.

"M-Marianne-?" My weak voice suddenly stopped.

"Shhh, Jenna, honey, save your strength." She ordered. "Look, I am so sorry for everything I have ever done to you." She told me as she pulled me to the edge of the cliff. "I'm going to throw you over the edge. It's the only way you'll be able to get away. There's a ledge about twelve feet down, land on it. Someone, a hiker or something will find you soon. Tourists come here all the time. Jenna, I have always loved you and I hope you don't hate me for what I did to you. But believe me when I say that it only to protect you. I've been leading the Mogs off your trail as much as I could since I left." She explained as we reached the edge. "I love you, Jenna." She said again and looked into my awestruck eyes. She kissed my forehead quickly then took my arms in her hands and lowered me as far down as she could. "Scream when you hit the ledge so I know you're safe. I'm going to kill the Mog to make it look like you. The lair is in Dallas; come there when you're healed." She told me and then released my arms after I nodded. I landed feet first on the narrow ledge.

I looked up and Marianne was gone. I shrieked like she had instructed and then collapsed out of sheer pain. Unfortunately, I was still conscious. I could hear everything everyone was saying. I was too weak to call to anyone. All I could do was lay there and try to put pressure on my stab wound.

"Where is-…" I heard a hoarse voice snap a few minutes later.

"Nine got him before I got her." Marianne cut in.

"You killed Nine? Wasn't she yours?" The voice spoke again. Silence. "Good for you." I heard the wicked smile in his voice.

"Well, let's get back to the base. It's a long drive." I heard my triple agent of a protector say.

"Marianne is right. Let's go." The Mog instructed and I heard everyone get dragged away. Then, I was alone. Just the sea breeze played at my ears. I could feel the blood leaving my body. I felt the pain rip through me. I longed to just lose conscious, to just get away until help arrived. I hated that I needed help getting out of this, the feeling of helplessness…

It took about twenty minutes before my world slowly… turned… black…

~End flashback~

"-And that's pretty much it…" I finished my story as I laid back down on the bed.

"Marianne betrayed you?" Titus asked me.

"Yes, but then told me it was only to protect me." I told him. He stood up and paced the room a few times.

"Titus?" Allen looked at him. I looked up off my pillow.

"She always did sacrifice herself to save those around her…" Titus mumbled almost to himself.

"Titus, we need to go after them." I said into my pillow.

"Why? Your friends are probably dead by now anyway." Allen replied as he crossed his arms at his chest again. I glared at him. Titus turned to him.

"Allen-…" He began.

"Shut the hell up! You have no clue who any of them were!" I screamed at him.

"Jenna-…" Titus tried again.

"Don't tell me to shut the hell up! Jenna, stop living in some fantasy world! The Mogs probably killed them as soon as they got them!" Allen screamed back.

"Guys!" Titus shouted.

"What?" Allen and I both screamed at the same time and looked at him.

"Calm down, okay? Jenna," He turned his gaze to me. "Who were those people with you that got captured?" He asked.

"Number's Six and Four, seven winged-humans, and one normal human." I said and slowly sat up on the bed, ignoring the pain in my side once more. Allen's and Titus's eyes widened.

"W-winged humans?" Allen stammered.

"N-number's Six and Four?" Titus breathed.

"And a normal human…" I shrugged.

"Once you're healed, we need to go after them. Where did Marianne say the base was?" Titus looked at me.

"Dallas." I told him.

"That makes sense. Dallas is a huge town, perfect for them to just blend right in a large enough town." Titus muttered. "How long do you usually take to heal?" He looked back at me.

"Um… about that… I'm not actually sure because my powers are not what you call working at the moment…" I explained shyly.

"Okay, let's pretend like your powers are working… What can you do?" Allen asked.

"Well, I'm pretty strong, I can run decently fast, and I can fly." I told him. "Oh, and usually an injury like this would be completely healed in three days, and I have visions sometimes…"

"Visions?" Titus raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah… I don't really know how they work… I saw Four and Six before we found each other. Then I saw you two looking over my body on the ledge." I shrugged.

"You saw us?" Titus's eyes widened.

"Yeah…" I replied coolly.

"Did you see me drop you?" Allen asked.

"You did what?" I looked at him.

"Nothing." He said quickly. I glared at him for a few seconds before turning back to Titus.

"We need to go after them right now." I said and fidgeted on the bed.

"You have a pretty severe knife wound on your right side, I'm the one that wrapped it. You need to heal before we do anything." Titus told me.

"But every second we wait, they could get farther away. Who knows how long they'll stay in Dallas for?" I snapped.

"Jenna, you need to heal. If that wound gets infected you could get really sick. What kind of a protector would I be if I allowed any of you to risk getting hurt?" Titus droned on.

"What about Six and Four? They're both one of us." I crossed my arms at my chest.

"Jenna, there is a possibility that they could already be-…"

"Stop it." I snapped, interrupting Allen. "Six is the best fighter I have ever seen. Four is stronger then I am. If I survived, they survived." I growled.

"Jenna, I promise you, we will go after them as soon as you are fully healed. But not a moment sooner." Titus declared.

"Fine." I hissed and dropped my arms back to my sides. I forgot I was just in a bra and the bloody gauze caught my eye.

"Want me to change that?" Titus asked. I saw him and Allen looking at it. "Allen, give us a minute." He said after I nodded tiredly. Allen walked out of the room without another word. "Are you still bleeding?" He asked as he carefully unwrapped my waist. Allen came back into the room carrying a first-aid kit, a bowl, and a damp washcloth. Titus threw the blood-soaked gauze into the bowl Allen had set on the bedside table and dabbed the lacerated area with the washcloth as Allen dashed from the room. I gazed at the deep slash on my side after Titus backed away.

"How long?" I asked as he dug through the first-aid kit.

"If your healing abilities are anything like Allen's, three or four days tops." He told me as he began rewrapping me. "Another thing, your clothes are pretty much totaled…"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Torn and blood covered." He replied as he finished mummifying me.

"Sounds like the norm." I shrugged and laid back down on the bed.

"Alright, get some sleep. Do you need anything, comfier clothes, water, anything?" He asked as he packed the first-aid kit back up.

"Uh, could I borrow some clothes?" I asked.

"Yeah. Allen's clothes should fit over your bandage." He shrugged and left the room for a moment. He came back and handed me a black shirt and white basketball shorts. "Anything else?" He asked.

"Could you hand me my backpack?" I replied.

"Sure." He smiled and set my backpack next to me on the bed. "Sleep tight." He gave me one last smile and left me alone in the room. I slipped Allen's shirt over my shoulders and eased it over my stomach. I stripped out of my jeans and pulled the shorts on my legs. I dug through my backpack until I found a ponytail holder and a headband and pulled my dirty hair back into a tight ponytail then secured my bangs back. I rested my head against the pillow and waited for sleep to come over me. Thoughts rushed to my head about everyone and everything until I gently drifted away into a dreamless sleep.

~Max P.O.V.~

I awoke in alarm as the trailer we were in skidded to a halt. Everything was still and silent after that.

"Where the hell are we?" Ari growled as we all slowly sat up.

"I'm guessing we're either at the base, or the Mogs needed a pit stop." Sam muttered as he scooted closer to Jane and John.

"Max," Angel peeped.

"Yeah, baby?" I looked at her.

"There's something I need to tell everyone…" She mumbled. She sounded scared.

"Baby, you don't have to be scared." I picked up her hand and squeezed it.

"I'm not afraid of the Mogadorians." She said flat out in all seriousness.

"Then what is it?" I asked and noticed Fang turn to her.

"It's just that-…" She began but then stopped as soon as the metal doors leading to the outside ripped open blinding us with intense light. Marianne and two Mogs stood in front of us. I glanced to Jane. Her watery eyes turned almost inhuman, as did John's deep blue ones when they fell on Marianne. I looked at Ari. Nudge and Iggy were physically restraining him from trying to rip Marianne's face off.

"Ari!" I snapped. His ferocious, wild eyes met mine and began to tame themselves.

"Get them inside." Marianne's voice stung like acid in my ears when she spoke. Mogs soon pulled our flailing butts out of the trailer and we were dragged inside the run down building the Mogadorians and traitors inhabited.

~Jenna P.O.V.~

"See, you're okay." Allen smiled and stood me on my feet. The coldness of the floor hit my bare feet and caused my to cringe. "You good?" His smile faded and he grabbed my arms gently.

"Yeah, yeah. The floor was just cold." I snickered as he released me. Allen had convinced me to stand up for the first time since I had arrived here. "How long have I actually been here?" I asked as we slowly walked from the room.

"Well, we first brought you here two days ago. You slept through the entire first day and then you woke up that first time." He explained.

"Where's Titus?" I asked when we were in the living room.

"The store. You need new clothes before you can go anywhere." Allen said as he led me to the couch.

"But your clothes are so comfortable." I winked as we sat down.

"Oh, I bet you want food." He realized as we watched a random show on TV.

"Food would be good." I smiled as he stood up.

"What do you want?" He looked down at me.

"What you got?" I looked up at him.

"I'm not really even sure." He chuckled.

"At this point, anything's fine." I smiled.

"You got it." He smiled back and went to the kitchen. The door opened and shut while Allen was gone.

"You kids hungry?" He asked once he realized where Allen was.

"Starving, actually." Allen walked back into the room. "Sorry Jenna, we literally have nothing." He turned to me.

"I haven't been able to get to the store lately." Titus shrugged. "Jenna," He handed me a bag with a JC Penny's label on it. "I didn't know your size so I kind of just guessed…" He admitted. "Go change so we can get something to eat." He smiled.

"Thank you." I beamed and got up. Allen rushed to my side to help me. "Allen, I'm fine." I insisted as he helped me back to the room.

"Your stomach is still wrapped, I'm still helping you." He told me as we reached the door.

"How chivalrous." I snickered.

"Change quick. I'm starving." He said and then left me alone in the room. I opened the bag and saw a lot of black… I pulled out a plain black V-neck tee shirt and a plain pair of black skinny jeans… Well… I now know Titus's favorite color… I stripped out of Allen's shorts and pulled on the jeans as a wave of pain ripped through my body. I moaned loudly and sat on the bed. "Jenna?" Allen tapped on the door.

"I'm fine, Five." I hissed.

"I'm coming in." He growled.

"I am in my underwear." I snapped.

"Deal." He said and then he was next to me in the room.

"I don't even let my boy-ish-friend this close to me when I'm undressed." I muttered, agony clear in my voice.

"Well maybe you should work on that." Allen snickered and pulled up my skinny jeans for me. "Boy-ish-friend? Not just boyfriend?" He looked at my face as he helped me out of his shirt.

"I'm not sure what he thinks of me." I shrugged after I was in my bra.

"Do you love him?" He asked as he took the shirt out of my hands.

"Yeah, I do." I said after a few minutes as he eased the shirt over my head.

"What's his name?" He replied after I was fully dressed in all black exactly like Allen was.

"Ari Batchelder." I smiled and blushed at his name.

"Must be nice." He mumbled as he leaned on the bed next to me.

"Hm?" I looked at him.

"It must be nice to have someone to love." He said shyly.

"Love is a distraction no matter how nice it is." I replied.

"Depends on how you look at it." His eyes met mine.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Love can be distraction but it's a distraction because the person love is there with you, kissing you, touching you, loving you…" Allen explained. "I don't know who this Batchelder guy is, but he must be pretty awesome to win the heart of a Loric."

"Thank you, Allen. That was beautiful." I smiled at him.

"Any time, Jenna." He smiled back. His dark eyes lit up. "Now, do you want me to put on your shoes for you?" He snickered.

"Please?" I chuckled. Allen got up and dug through the bag until he found a shoebox in the bottom. "I don't think Titus bought you any socks." Allen chuckled.

"I don't mind going barefoot." I snickered.

"Good." Allen smiled as he opened the box pulled out a pair of, get this, black converse low tops and slipped them over my bare feet.

"Titus is a wizard at guessing sizes." I said, as I looked myself over in the mirror.

"And he likes black." Allen shrugged as he supported some of my weight for me.

"I can tell." I smiled. Right then, Allen's stomach growled loudly. "Let's go." I turned to Allen. He nodded and we walked out of the room together.

"Ready to go?" Titus looked up from the couch.

"Yeah." Allen said.

"Is she okay?" He asked when he realized Allen had my arm.

"She's hungry. She hasn't really eaten anything in two days." Allen shrugged.

"Oh, right. Let's go." Titus stood up and grabbed his keys off of the table.

And we were off to finally get some food in me.

* * *

**Hey guys! Hope you liked it! NO. I hoped you loved it. But of course, if you didn't tell me why... Or tell me why you liked it. Either way helps. Loves you!**


	20. Chapter 20

"Jeez Jenna, slow down." Allen snickered as he slid his salad over to me. "When was the last time you ate?" He asked after I had plowed through my salad, Titus's, and half of his.

"Three days ago, give or take. I was in Tennessee…" I said through a mouthful of lettuce.

"Where were you guys going?" Titus asked. I stopped eating and dropped my fork. "Nine, where were you going?" Titus's face turned serious.

"We got a hit on Allen's location." I said after I swallowed hard.

"That's impossible… We just moved from Lancaster not six weeks ago…" Titus breathed.

"Six and Four found you in D.C." I said and watched their faces turn horrified.

"We may need to mobilize sooner then planned." Titus snapped.

"But Jenna-…"

"We'll have to hit the road. If they found us, Mogs can sure as hell find us too." Titus interrupted Allen.

"Right." Allen nodded.

"Hey, Allen." A girls voice said.

"Katie? Hey." Allen looked up at the girl's face and smiled. He and Titus hid their accents in public. "Oh, uh, Katie, this is Jenna. She's my cousin from out of town." Allen said when the girl's eyes fell on me.

"Oh, really?" She smiled. "Where're you from?" She turned to me. She was standing by the edge of our table.

"Uh, Little Rock." I spit out.

"Arkansas?" She asked.

"Yeah…" I replied.

"That's a little further then out of town." She chuckled.

"Just a little bit." I shrugged.

"Well, I'll let you guys get back to your meal. Bye, Allen, Jenna, Mr. Jeffries." She smiled one last time and walked away.

"Bye." We all said almost in unison.

"Little Rock?" Allen looked at me and spoke in his accent once more.

"I panicked." I shrugged and picked up my fork once more. I was still starving.

About an hour, three salads, an entire steak, six cokes, a pound of fries, and a banana split later, we were ready to leave the restaurant.

"So you guys hide your accents?" I asked once we were in the car.

"Yeah. Our story is that we moved from Wisconsin." Allen explained.

"Ah." I replied.

"Did you ever hide an accent?" Allen looked at me from behind his sunglasses.

"Once." I replied.

"Where from?" He asked.

"Russia. Marianne and I lived there for the longest I've lived anywhere. I pick accents up really fast." I snickered.

"How long and where did you go?" He pried.

"Two years and Liverpool." I snickered.

"Can you still do the accent?" Allen snickered.

"Da. I can still sound like Russian." I said in my near perfect Russian accent.

"It sounds like you still have the accent in the first place." His jaw dropped.

"Maybe I do." I continued with the accent.

"Do you really?" He actually believed me!

"No, dude! I haven't lived there in over ten years. " I snickered and popped back into my normal, Canadian accent.

"Your voice doesn't exactly sound American through." He looked back at me.

"It's Canadian." I shrugged. "That's where I lived last."

"Where was that?" Allen pried.

"Nova Scotia." I smiled.

"We've never been there." Allen sighed.

"It's pretty up there." I shrugged as we pulled into the driveway.

"Alright, Nine, get some rest." Titus told me as we unloaded the car. He had been almost silent since I had told him about finding them online. "Five, help her if she needs it." He instructed and picked up his laptop off the coffee table and then dashed to his room. He turned to us before he walked through the open door. "Go!" He snapped and slammed the door shut.

"He only uses numbers when he's pissed." Allen mumbled and turned to me. "Let's just go." He whispered and led me slowly by the arm into the bedroom. "You want to put my clothes back on, Jen?" He asked me.

"Nah, I'll be fine sleeping in this, Al." I snickered.

"No one calls me Al." He chuckled as I laid down.

"No one calls me Jen." I shrugged against the bed.

"Well, we do now." He smiled.

"Agreed." I smiled as I pulled the covers over me.

"Sleep tight, Jen." He winked before he left me alone in the room.

"Wait, Allen," I called after him.

"Huh?" He stumbled back in the room.

"You and Katie? Do you-?" I stopped.

"Love her?" He finished my sentence. "I wish. I just could never seem to fall for her, no matter how hard I tried." He looked sad.

"Guess she wasn't the one." I muttered.

"Guess not." He shrugged. "Did you know right away when you saw Ari?" He walked farther into the room.

"Hell no. I kicked his ass the first time I met him." I snickered into my pillow.

"You sound like one hell of a girlfriend." He snorted.

"I like to think I am." I chuckled and glared up at him. He smiled.

"Sleep. We need you better fast." He continued smiling and left me alone in the room again. I smiled against the pillow and closed my eyes. It took only a matter of minutes for my body to lose consciousness.

~Max P.O.V.~

"We have been here for two days now and haven't done anything." John growled after his fist had angrily slammed against the brick wall.

"Four, stop it. Sit back down." Jane suddenly hostile accent snapped.

"I've been sitting for two days straight. I'm sick of doing nothing." He barked, this time directed at Jane.

"There's nothing we can do right now! We have to wait until we can actually do something!" Six screamed back at him.

"If Nine was here right now-…" He stopped suddenly, his eyes wide.

"Finish your sentence." Six hissed and crossed her arms tightly at her chest.

"If Nine was here right now, you'd be giving your all to break us out right here, right now." He said, his voice turned soft.

"But Nine isn't here. My maternal, sharp instincts seemed to run out." Six stood up. "My sister died because I wasn't quick enough to get to her, Four." She got in his face. "My little sister, the youngest one of our kind," Her voice dimmed. "Is dead." She stopped. "I dreamed about finding her since Katarina was killed and I began seeking you all out. I wanted her with me, just to know she was safe." Her voice cracked. "And what happens after I'm with her for two days?" A tear rolled down her cheek. John wiped the tear away with his thumb. "She-…" John silenced her by pressing his lips gently against hers.

"Shut up, Six." He said against her mouth and then backed away. I think it's fair to say, she shut the hell up. "Nine didn't die because you weren't quick enough, she died because we weren't prepared. After we get out of here, we need to train so that this never happens again. And I promise you, Nine will be avenged." John's eyes turned fiery. Ari's face had fell. I could tell he wanted to be holding Jenna like John was holding Jane. How could one person that none of us have even known for a year have such an impact on all of are lives? She had become one of the only people outside of the flock I could wholeheartedly trust. But in the last few weeks of her life, she was a part the flock, my flock. She was a part of our family not related by blood. All of us loved her… All of us needed her…

And she was ripped away from all of us… And she would never be back…

We would never see her again… Never hug her, never touch her… We didn't even have a body to remember her by…

Rest in peace, Jenna. We all love and miss you.

~Jenna P.O.V.~

"Damn it!" I screamed as my butt hit the ground for almost the tenth time in the last five minutes.

"C'mon, Jenna. Focus." Titus groaned as he paced back a fourth.

"Fighting a guy who's ten times stronger then me is harder then it looks." I snapped and got to my feet, refusing Allen's help. I brushed the dirt off my ass and resumed my fighting stance.

"You sure 'bout this, Jen? How's your stomach?" Allen asked as he prepared to charge at me.

"Worry 'bout yourself, big guy." I snapped and wiped my sweaty face on my arm. With that, Allen charged at me, arm extended. I ducked under his arm and popped up behind him. I kicked him in the back for the first time all day. It didn't hurt him, I could see it in his face as he twisted back around and grabbed my foot. I yelped in pain as he twisted it, and wound up on the ground once more.

"Better." Titus spoke. "You made contact this time." His arms were crossed.

"Let's just say it, I'm useless. Until my powers come back, if they come back, I'm a liability for everyone around me." I snapped. Allen plopped down next to me on the ground.

"No. Until your powers come back, when they come back, you need to stay on your guard and not give up." Titus hissed and stalked closer to Allen and I. "I won't allow you to think negatively about yourself. We're still in this together no matter what we think of each other or ourselves." He now stood over us. "You are two of the strongest creatures in this universe, powers or not. Now, go again. But this time, instead of thinking how weak and useless you are, try thinking that you are strong and you can do anything." He hissed and pulled me up by my arm. I nodded and Allen got to his feet.

"You feel any pain at any time, I'll stop. I promise." Allen whispered to me before taking his fighting stance.

"Don't hold back." I insisted.

"Never." He said and then ran at me. His fist whizzed by my head only missing by nanometers. I grabbed his fist and instead of twisting it, I used it as almost a stepping-stone and pulled myself into the air until I wrapped my ankles around his throat and forced him onto the ground.

"Tap or snap, bro." I said after he struggled to get free for a few seconds. I released him when I felt his hand tap my shin twice.

"Great job, Jenna!" Titus exclaimed as he ran over to us. "If Allen was a Mog you could have easily ended him from that position." He beamed.

"Y-you really had me." Allen panted from next to me, his hand clamped over his neck. "E-even with my powers I couldn't get you off of me." He turned to me. I smiled sheepishly at him.

"Alright," Titus said after a few more rounds of sparring. "You two run a few more drills, I'll head home and pack. We're mobilizing tonight." Allen's jaw dropped.

"But-?"

"We need to leave, Five." Titus snapped, interrupting Allen. "Katie will understand." He said with his back to us and then walked off leaving us alone.

"Damn it!" Allen screamed after a few minutes of still silence and slammed both of his fists against the grassy surface.

"Allen?" I looked at him.

"The one school I actually make friends, I leave after six weeks!" He yelled.

"Allen, Mogs might already be on your trail…" I muttered. He sighed loudly.

"I know. You and Titus are right." His face turned sad. He stood up and paced the area around us a few times.

"Allen?" I looked up at him.

"What?" He stopped walking.

"What exactly were you and Titus doing that day you found me? Why were you so far from home?" I asked quickly. He slowly turned to me. The look in his eyes sent chills down my spine.

"Tracking." He growled.

"Tracking what, Five?" I pried. He looked away. "Allen, what were you and Titus tracking?" I stood up and picked up his hand.

"Marianne." He whispered after a few seconds.

"Ma-…" I stopped. "Marianne, my Marianne?" I asked.

"Yeah." Allen pulled his hand away.

"Why?" I asked.

"Well, Titus claims that if we found her we would find you." Allen muttered.

"Which you did… in a twisted, not right sort of way… but you found me…" I replied.

"Yeah." Allen shrugged.

"You think Titus lied?" I asked.

"Sort of…" He looked back to me. "He tells me stories about the one he loved on Lorien. Since he was stuck on finding her, so I assumed she was the one…"

"Did you ever ask him about her?" I raised an eyebrow.

"No. He was too sensitive about her. I could see it in his eyes." He shrugged again. "Did Marianne ever mention being in love?"

"No. She kept all of that stuff private. All of it." I said sadly.

"Oh." He looked away sadly. "Want to head back?" He asked.

"Yeah." I sighed and then we took off toward the road. When we reached it, Titus's black Prius was nowhere in sight.

"Great! Titus left me stranded!" Allen groaned.

"Are you forgetting I drove separate?" I chuckled.

"Yeah, but you drove a crotch rocket." He looked at me.

"Hang on tight." I winked and straddled the red motorcycle.

"Oh, God." He said and reluctantly got on the seat behind me. I waited to go until his arms were firmly wrapped around my waist. Then we were on the road. I took it slow at first just so Allen didn't flip. Since we didn't have helmets, I didn't want to risk a flailing, seventeen year-old alien freaking out and cause us to fall. We pulled into the driveway a few minutes later and I stopped next to Four's truck. We went inside and the house was trashed!

"Titus?" I called as I skeptically shrugged out of my pleather jacket.

"You here, dude?" Allen went into Titus's room.

"Right here!" I heard Titus's voice echo through the house. He dashed passed Allen and was then in the living room.

"What are you doing?" Allen asked as he rummaged through bookshelf after bookshelf.

"Looking for something." He snapped.

"Want to tell us what that might be?" Allen walked over to me.

"A box. It was suppose to get handed down to you when the time was right and now I can't find it." He snapped again.

"Wait," I dashed into the room I had been using. I ripped open my backpack and found the box I had taken from my house on the day of the fire. I went back into the living room. "Something like this?" I held it up.

"Yes, almost exactly." Titus ran over to me. "M-Marianne's?" He examined the box and then looked into my eyes.

"Yes." I said quietly.

"Did she give this to you?" He kept his eyes locked on me.

"Not exactly… My last house burned down and I took it out of Marianne's room before I left." I explained.

"Good." He nodded at me. Then he turned and went back to digging around his living room. Allen and I helped for about an hour. "I'll keep looking guys, you both start getting ready to go." He instructed. Allen and I obeyed without question. We went back to my room and Allen sat on the bed.

"Did you like it here?" I asked after a few minutes of silence while I packed my backpack.

"Eh, it was okay." I sensed him shrug. Then it was silent again.

"Want to play a game?" I asked when it got awkward.

"A game?" He snickered.

"Yeah, the question game. It's a bonding thing." I turned and smiled at him.

"Okay, sure. You first." He chuckled.

"Uh, would you go first?" I winked at him and then went to my backpack.

"Sure." I heard the snicker. "Favorite place you have ever lived." I stopped cold as the no brainer question brought so many painful memories.

"Phoenix, Arizona." I said quietly and then started packing my backpack once more. "Best friend you have ever made. And it can't be me." I chuckled.

"Besides you," He snickered. "Katie." I heard the smile playing in his words. "First kiss?" He asked. "Let me guess, Ari?" He snickered.

"Uh, that's two questions, and no. Iggy." I replied.

"Iggy?" He snickered. "What happened with that guy?" He asked.

"Um, it's actually my turn." I got defensive.

"Fine. Ask away." He chuckled.

"Do you want to know about Iggy?" I sighed.

"Yes." He replied. I stood up slowly and sat at his side.

"Iggy was the first person I thought I loved. We kissed a few times, slept together-…"

"Slept together!" Allen exclaimed, his expression turned into one of pure shock.

"No, not slept together! Slept together, as in sleeping together. The ground is hard, Allen." I replied quickly, shocked as well. I mean I would never do that! But if I saw Ari again… AH! WHAT THE HELL BRAIN? I'm definitely going to see Ari again and we are definitely not going to… you know…

"Alright, sorry. Finish your story." Allen said, much calmer now.

"Alright. We went to school together, fought together, got captured together, and played together… Iggy and I were perfect." I smiled to myself as memories of the good times Iggy and I had came rushing into my brain. "Too perfect." My smile faded. Allen's expression turned curious. "Don't get me wrong, it was great. Just when it ended," I paused. "Uh, pure devastation is the only phrase that can almost describe it." I smiled crookedly at Allen to keep myself from getting upset.

"What-uh, what happened?" Allen cleared his throat.

"Iggy and my best friend, well, before you," I snickered. "They had a thing before I came along. After we left for the first time and eventually had to go back due to a Mog attack. When they saw each other, I guess their old feelings for each other came back or whatever. I got thrown aside like yesterdays trash." I said sadly.

"Was Iggy with the group that was taken?" Allen asked.

"Yeah. He was the blond, pale, beanpole with wings." I replied.

"I'll be sure to kick his ass when we rescue them." He growled.

"No. Don't. I uh… I–I was kind of… messing around with Ari before we were officially over…" I said slowly. I still felt horrible about that…

"Wow, Nine. Didn't think you were like that." Allen chuckled and nudged me in the ribs.

"No one does." I snickered.

"Always the quiet ones." He laughed.

"Got to watch these ones. They'll kick your ass if you're not careful." I pretended to be serious.

"Treat or a promise?" Allen raised an eyebrow.

"Keep talking and you'll find out." I winked.

"Go shower, you stink." He laughed and pushed me off the bed. "Want me to wash the clothes your wearing?" He asked.

"Sure. Wait outside the bathroom." I said and grabbed the tank top and shorts I used for pajamas and went into the bathroom. I undressed and threw my empty clothes at Allen threw a crack in the door and then showered for the first time in forever. The warm water felt amazing as it hit my face. I got out after I washed my filthy hair. I put on the clothes and dried my hair. I left the bathroom after I was done.

Allen was sprawled out on his bed sound asleep when I found him. His backpack was open next to him.

"Shouldn't you be packing?" I snickered as I pulled his pillow out from under his head.

"Hey!" He exclaimed as he awoke in a panic and ripped his pillow out of my hand. He hit me with it before slipping it back under his head and closing his eyes.

"C'mon, lazy butt." I sat next to him. "Get up." I poked his stomach repeatedly. "You're not going to have enough time to pack and then you're going to forget stuff." I scolded.

"Fine. I'm awake. Will you get me a water bottle?" He asked in his sleepy voice and scratched his head.

"Sure." I stood up. "Start packing." I said and walked toward the door.

"Already started." He smiled and patted his backpack. I went and got a bottle of water. Titus was on the couch.

"Hey." I said as I walked passed him.

"Jenna." He nodded. I noticed him fumbling with something in his lap.

"W-what's that?" I stopped.

"A detonator. This house has to go." He looked up.

"Why?" I raised an eyebrow.

"You lost to much blood here. Mogs will surely pick up your scent." He explained.

"But… you have neighbors…" I muttered.

"They live far enough away, nothing will happen. Just a loud bang." Titus insisted.

"Promise?" I looked into his eyes.

"I promise." His eyes proved he wasn't lying. I nodded and started walking toward Allen's room once more. "You know, you remind me a lot of her." I stopped cold.

"How well did you know her?" I asked with my back to him, knowing exactly whom he meant.

"Better then I know myself." He replied.

"She raised me. She was my mother." I growled and walked out of the living room. Okay, Marianne wasn't my mother. Not by blood anyway. But when you raise someone more then her actual mother, what are you?

"It's about time!" Allen exclaimed as I walked through his door. I handed him the bottle and sat cross-legged on his bed. "You okay?" He looked at me.

"Fine." I didn't meet his gaze.

"Jenna?" He sat next to me. "Does your side hurt? I can probably convince Titus to give us one more day here…" He wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

"No. I'm fine. Really." That was a lie. I missed Marianne more then ever.

"You sure." He pried.

"Yeah. I just miss Ari." I lied partially.

"You'll see him soon." He smiled at me.

"You're right." I smiled and put on a fake smile. "Finish packing." I snickered and pushed him away from me. As soon as his eyes were off my face, my smile faded. I laid on Allen's bed and looked at the cut on my left side. It was almost completely scarred over and healed.

"How is it?" Allen asked. "Your side?" He added after a few seconds.

"Fine. It hasn't hurt in a few hours." I shrugged.

"You got lucky." Titus appeared in the doorway.

"How so?" I sat up.

"Most Mogs would've killed you right there." He crossed his arms.

"Yeah, well, Marianne didn't want that to happen." I snapped. Titus looked pissed. I really didn't care.

"Be ready in two hours." He hissed and then disappeared back into the living room.

"You two have tension?" Allen asked after Titus was gone.

"Forget about it." I laid back down.

Two hours later, we were on the move. Leaving in ten minutes, I changed back into my all black attire. I left my tank top on under my shirt just to put some extra padding between my skin and another Mog's knife. I left the bathroom after I put my hair up and went to my room. I checked the room over one more time quickly and then left when I was sure I had everything. I met Allen in the hallway. He looked really upset.

"You ready?" I asked. He shook his head. I put my backpack down and wrapped my arms around his neck. He threw his arms around my waist and I felt small sobs rip through him. "Allen, we're in this together. You will never be alone." I whispered into his chest.

"I know." He mumbled into my hair. We let go of each other a few seconds later. I slung my backpack over my shoulders.

"Together?" I held up my hand.

"Together." He nodded and took my hand. We walked out of the doomed house hand in hand. I stuck my backpack into the passenger side of Four's truck.

"Drive safe." I looked to Five. He nodded as I slammed the door.

"Dallas," Titus said as he loaded his car. "You want to lead?" He turned to me.

"You can." I shrugged and went to Six's motorcycle.

"Nine?" He called to me before I could straddle the bike.

"Yes?" I looked up.

"I found this and thought you might need it." He pulled something black out of the backseat of his Prius. He tossed whatever it was at me. I caught it and looked at it, it was a black motorcycle helmet… "It's illegal in some states to not wear a helmet." He shrugged.

"Thank you." I gave him a small smile then slipped the helmet onto my head then put the faceguard down.

"Anytime." He smiled just as Allen rolled down the truck window. "We'll stop in a few hours. We for sure have to get out of this state." Titus told both of us. We both nodded and with that, we were off: Titus in front, me in the middle, and Allen behind. When we were about ten minutes down the road, I saw Titus push a button. Then the area behind us lit up and heard a loud bang, just like Titus had said. I took a deep breath to keep myself from looking back.

About ten minutes later, we were almost out of town. I glanced into the woods for just a second and saw a familiar, tuff of fur.

"Bernie?" I breathed under the helmet. The beagle's head snapped up, he had heard me. I pulled over quickly and right when I popped it in park, the Chimæra leaped into my arms.

"Jenna, you okay?" Allen asked as he ran to my side.

"Five, this is Bernie." I smiled and held him up.

"What's going on?" Titus came running.

"Jenna found her dog." Allen said as he scratched Bernie behind his ears.

"He's not mine." I snapped. "He's Four's. Mine's a Pomeranian." I snickered.

"We need to keep moving." Titus urged as he backed toward his car.

"Right." I agreed and handed the Chimæra to Five. "Keep him safe." I said before kissing Bernie's furry head.

"Will do." Allen smiled.

"Wasn't talking to you." I patted Allen's head as his smile faded. I put the motorcycle into gear and waited until Five was ready before pulling back onto the road.

We were on the road again. Who knows what to expect is on the other end of out journey this time…

* * *

**Hello! I'm sorry this chapter is kinda boring... Nothing really happened... But oh well! Next chapter should have more excitement. Tell me what you thought! Love you! **


	21. Chapter 21

"How much further?" I asked as we walked through the doors to a McDonalds somewhere in Tennessee. We had been driving for almost four hours straight and Titus had forced us to stop.

"A few more hours, Nine. I know we're all anxious, but we need to eat and be at full strength." Titus replied. I knew he was right. I just wish my powers hadn't of failed… If I could fly, I could be there in an hour tops. I nodded and then we all got food. I ordered a salad and then slowly nibbled on it until it was gone. Allen looked nervous. I can't really blame him… This will probably be his first huge fight against the Mogs…

Oh well. Got to start somewhere.

After all three of us were done, we wordlessly hit the road again, same order as before. I was scared of what secrets the future holds.

Let's just hope this is the last time my friends ever have to think I'm dead. I'm starting to feel bad about it…

~Max P.O.V.~

"You know what the one thing I don't get is?" John sat up in between Sam and Jane. It was our third day of sitting around doing nothing, and that includes eating and sleeping.

"What?" Jane looked at him.

"When Nine died, why didn't we get a scar?" He said.

"Good point." Jane sat up.

"You guys have those horrendous scars on you too?" Ari asked.

"All of us do." Four shrugged.

"Horrendous, Ari? Didn't know you knew such a big word." I snickered.

"What can I say? Jenna's high IQ rubbed off on me." He chuckled and smiled at her name.

"She was a freaking genius." Iggy sighed and leaned against the damp, brick wall.

"She was." Ari murmured.

"And she could fly." Gazzy's face fell.

"Yeah, she could." I ruffled his blond hair.

"Guys?" Angel peeped. This was the first time she spoke since we were unloaded from the trailer.

"Yeah, Ang?" I looked at her.

"There's something I've been meaning to tell you…" She mumbled.

"What is it?" I wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"It's about Jenna." She refused to look at anyone.

"What about her?" I pried.

"Well, that day, on the mountain, I don't think Jen-…" The door to where we were being held ripped open interrupted her. Three Mogs stood in our sights smiling wickedly.

"Hello, my weak, little prisoners." One of them spoke up. "Time to play." His hideous smile grew twice as big. He motioned the Mogs forward and then we were dragged out of room we had been in for three days straight and dragged down hallway after hallway then thrown into dog crates, much like we had been at the school. "We thought you'd be more comfortable in these." The Mog growled, staring directly at me as he spoke. "Wait." He instructed a Mog that was trying his hardest to shove Ari into a cage. "Leave that one out." He growled. The Mog stopped and held Ari in place. "What's your name?" The Mog that was doing all the talking got in his face. Ari didn't say anything. "Difficult, aren't we? Just like, what was her name? Jenna, was it? Number Nine was just like this, wasn't she?" Ari's eyes turned murderous as he glared at the Mog. "Ah, yes. You see: I know your name, Ari." He cackled evilly. Ari's eyes widened. "I just wanted to see if you actually loved that alien freak." The Mog snickered.

"Jenna, an alien freak?" Ari chuckled. The Mog's smile faded. "Do you own a mirror?" Ari growled. I couldn't help but snicker, I don't think anyone could. Except the Mogs… They looked mad. Without warning, the Mog in Ari's face slammed his fist into Ari's stomach. Ari toppled over in pain not before coughing blood on the Mog's face. After that, Ari was picked up and shoved into the crate next to me.

"Maximum," He turned to me. "Control your beast of a half brother." The Mog growled and wiped Ari's blood off of his face.

"What can I say?" I crossed my arms. "Can't control little siblings." I shrugged in my cage.

"You really can't." I heard Jane back me up. The Mog's face became enraged.

"Six, in case you haven't noticed yet, your sister is dead." He said in a mock-calm voice. "By Marianne's, a protector from your own planet, own hand." He glared into her cage. His eyes glowed a dark red. "After we take you and Four out there will be only three of you left." His voice grew lower and lower. "Your race is as good as extinct." A hideous smile stretched across his face. He turned to one of his Mog buddies. "Get Four and Six out here." He snapped as they both moved at once and ripped the two Lorics out of their cages. They forced them onto their knees and held their hands behind their back with one hand and held knives to their necks with the other hand. They looked completely helpless… "Don't even try to fight. You haven't eaten in days, you haven't slept; you are completely powerless." The Mogs grin grew. "Much like Nine was, before she died." He snickered. "Admit it, you both thought her to be useless, I saw it in your eyes when we took her." He stepped closer to the two. My jaw dropped. Jenna? Useless?

"Her powers were gone, her strength…" John spoke up quietly. Jane's lack of protest proved she agreed. About a dozen new Mogs joined the party. One face stuck out like a sore thumb: Marianne. Her expression was unreadable. "She couldn't really do much…" Four shook his head. The Mog talking smiled bigger and grosser than before. I seriously couldn't believe what I was hearing…

"Do not worry, young Lorics." The Mog said happily. "Your species was doomed to begin with." He snickered and motioned for the Mogadorians holding the Lorics to finish them. I squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting to witness this.

"You're wrong." A very familiar voice spoke. Two gunshots exploded suddenly as I slowly opened my eyes. My eyes widened as I saw the two Mogs holding John and Jane were now just piles of dust. My eyes almost bulged from my head as I saw her face.

Jenna Parker stood behind the Mogs, gun pointed. She was the owner of the voice. Number Nine was back from the dead…

For the second time…

~Jenna P.O.V.~

The three of us pulled along the side of the road about a mile from the lair. I was ready for a fight.

"What's the plan?" I asked, trembling with excitement.

"Well, we sure enough can't go in all at once…" Titus replied, wiping his sweaty forehead from the intense, Dalla heat.

"Separation infiltration. I like the sound of that." I grinned, bouncing up and down. I couldn't stop moving. I popped the motorcycle helmet I was still wearing off and hung it on the handlebars of my sister's bike.

"Someone sure is eager." Titus snickered.

"They have my friends. No one messes with my friends." I hissed.

"Good." Titus nodded at me. "Five, you ready?" We both turned to Allen. He looked like he was ready to hurl. He nodded sluggishly and gave us a small smile. "We'll do great." Titus beamed at us. "I'm going to go scout. If I'm not back in ten, go in with out me." He said and the backed into a dark alley.

"Allen, you sure you're okay, bud?" I looked at him.

"I'm nervous. I've never been in a huge fight at a Mogadorian base before… Do you think we'll be able to do this?" He turned to me, his eyes troubled.

"A wise man once said, "Yes we can." So yes we can." I quoted and smiled at him.

"Barack Obama?" He replied, still nervous.

"Bob the Builder." I winked at him.

"You're right, Nine. We can do this." He grinned back.

"Always am. Just ask Ari." I snickered as I put on my aviators on in the setting, Texas sunlight. Allen grinned at me as Titus trudged his was back up the dark alley.

"Now's the perfect time to go." He whispered, his eyes blazing.

"Roger that." I nodded and we took off toward the base, arriving in less then five minutes. "Are we splitting?" I whispered as the three of us crouched in a bush, eyes locked on the base.

"Yeah. Since you have battle experience, you go alone. We need to meet up before we fight." Titus replied.

"Right." I nodded.

"Jenna," I felt Titus's hand on my shoulder. "Don't do anything stupid like trying to find your friends alone."

"I wouldn't." I looked at him.

"Good." He nodded. "Remember, meet up before we attack. We don't know what we're getting in to. Allen and I nodded, then, we were off.

I snuck around back until I found an empty room behind a window. I did what they did in the movies and cut a hole through the glass and opened it from the inside. Once inside, I scanned the room for cameras. When I saw none, I sheathed my knife that I had moved to my belt loop, just like my sister, and took my sunglasses off of my face. I popped them on the top of my head as tiptoed to the door and put my ear to it. I heard nothing and crept from the dingy room. I snuck down the hallway, gun in hand and I poked my head around a corner. A lone Mog was snaking his way closer to me. Before he could see me, I snapped my head back and pressed myself against the moist, brick wall. I felt the coolness through my shirt causing chills down my spine and Goosebumps on my arms. He didn't see me as he rounded the corner; his eyes were closed! The Mog sighed as he arrived at the door that I had just come out of. He opened the door and went in still completely oblivious to my presence.

I let out a sigh of relief and kept moving. I moved around the corner and tiptoed down the long corridor stopping only when I heard nearby voices. I quickly ducked into another empty room and cracked the door so I could see what was happening. As the voices grew closer, I began to be able to make what the owners were saying. I heard a lot of swearing and struggling as the people came into view. There, being dragged by a string of Mogs, were my friends and sister. I squeezed my eyes shut forcing myself to stay put and not jump the Mogs right here and now. After the voices passed, I got up slowly and crept from the pitch-black room. I sneakily followed the herd, hiding behind corners and objects big enough in the sinister-looking hallways.

'I knew you weren't dead.' I heard Angel's voice in my head. I poked my head around the corner I was perched behind and saw Angel's tiny frame being dragged by a creepy Mog man.

'Hang in there. I'm coming for all of you.' I nodded at her.

'I know.' She smiled weakly. I smiled and winked at her just as they all were yanked into one of the rooms along the hallway. I now knew where they were; now it was just Allen and Titus I was looking for.

Where were they? I hope I find them before the Mogs got the chance. I memorized where the flock plus three were and crept forward. I rounded three more corners before I heard many voices approaching me from almost every angle. I prayed the room I was next to was as empty as the others I had been in were and disappeared inside. I closed the door all the way before unsheathing my dagger and allowing the blue glow illuminate the room. I immediately went into commando mode when I saw two figures in the dim lighting.

"Jenna, it's us." The taller one put his hands up in surrender.

"I almost attacked you two." I let out a sigh of relief.

"Save that for the real Mogs." Allen snickered; much calmer then he had been when I left them.

"Will do." I smiled as the door to the room ripped open and another lengthy figure joined us in the room, closing it behind them. My back straightened as I went into commando mode once more.

"Jenna, it's me." I recognized Marianne's voice before I pounced.

"How'd you know where we were?" I let myself relax while I noticed Titus straighten up beside me.

"I can sense when you're around." She shrugged. "How's your side?" She walked closer to me.

"It's fine. I took care of it." I replied and brushing her hand away.

"Just let me see it." She forcefully grabbed my side and pulled up my shirts revealing blade-sized scar that was now there. "It healed over well." She let my shirt fall.

"I know." I shrugged out of her grasp. "Do they still think I'm dead?" I asked.

"Yes." She nodded. "Jenna, there's something I need to tell you." She replied.

"And that is…?" I asked.

"Your powers are going to fade every time you get close to any Loric you've never had contact with." Marianne's eyes burned into mine in the dim lighting.

"Wha-? But I've been with Five for almost a week now ant they're still not back…" I replied.

"That's the thing. I researched this and they have no set time of coming back. They'll come back when you need them. It could be an hour; it could be two months… That is up to you." She explained.

"How could you possibly research something like this?" Titus questioned. Marianne's eyes shifted from my face to his.

"Her parents history. Her mother could do the same thing." She told us.

"My mother?" I asked.

"Yeah. But when she had it, it was more like an obstacle, yours can be more helpful." She looked back to me.

"My powers fade when ever I'm around a Loric I'm not used too. How the hell is that helpful?" I raised an eyebrow.

"You'll know when other's are around. Think of yourself as a GPS, Lorien style." She smiled in the blue glow.

"I guess you're right." I smiled. "But wait," My smile faded. "Why didn't my powers fade when I first met Four or Six?" I asked.

"I'm not sure about that one." She shrugged. "Maybe because of his being around your sister so much. Maybe she blocks it out. I'm not really sure… I'm sorry, Jenna." Her face turned sad.

"Don't be." I beamed at her.

"One more thing: the visions." She looked back to me. "You'll be able to see things the other numbers have done, but only if they're about you."

"Like when I saw Allen and Titus get me off the ledge at the cliff…" I breathed.

"Exactly." She smiled. "Your mother would be proud to know you've inherited most of her abilities." She said.

"Thank you." I beamed.

"You're welcome, Love. I need to get back to the Mogs. I'll lead you to the where everyone is right now. They're all there now. All of them." She explained as her smile faded.

"Marianne, wait." Titus stepped forward and grabbed her hand. He pulled her into a tight hug and then pressed his lips gently against hers. Let me tell you, seeing these two kiss for the first time was just like seeing your parents kiss for the first time… well, I'm guessing…

"I've been waiting for you to do that for so long…" Marianne whispered against his mouth.

"Called it." Allen snickered into my ear. I snickered and elbowed him in the ribs lightly. Titus held Marianne against him for a few seconds before they broke apart and the four of us bolted out the door. I whipped my gun out and held it defensively and we crept down the hallway.

"You three stay hidden until the time to attack is right." Marianne whispered as we arrived at the place where I saw my friends get dragged into. The three of us nodded and then crept in the room, just in time to see my sister and number Four forced onto their knees with knives at their necks. More Mogs now entered the room. Titus ushered us back further into our hiding spot.

"Don't even try to fight. You haven't eaten in days, you haven't slept; you are completely powerless." I heard the grin in his voice. "Much like Nine was, before she died." He snickered. "Admit it, you both thought her to be useless, I saw it in your eyes when we took her." He stepped further from Five and I. No way my sister and Four thought I was useless…

"Her powers were gone, her strength…" Four spoke up quietly. My sister didn't say anything. That proved that she too thought I was useless. I felt my fists clench at my sides. "She couldn't really do much…" Four shook his head. My teeth clamped down on my bottom lip harder then ever before.

"Nine, stop it. If you start bleeding, they'll smell you." Titus whispered and I felt his hand squeeze my shoulder relaxingly. I felt my lip go free.

"Do not worry, young Lorics." The Mog said as sickenly happy as ever. "Your species was doomed to begin with." He snickered and motioned for the Mogadorians holding the Lorics to finish them.

"Now." Titus whispered.

"You're wrong." I growled as I leaped to my feet and let my index finger squeeze my gun's trigger twice. I watched as my sister's and Four's eyes widened as the Mogs holding them were suddenly reduced to ash. I heard the gasps when everyone saw my 'dead' face. The Mog that had been talking slowly turned to face me, his eyes blazing. "Our species has never been more alive." I hissed through clenched teeth. "Like me." I added and cracked a small, mocking smile.

"N-Number Nine?" The Mog stammered.

"Miss me?" I glared into his deep, red, shocked eyes, my half smile still plastered on my lips. Five and Titus now flanked me. Since Allen was had elemental control, attacking at far rage would be easy for us. Marianne moved to the stunned Mog's side, still acting like one of them. A few seconds later, the Mog shook his head.

"Get them!" He shrieked. Then, the chaos began.

"Take out as many as you can, and Allen," I glanced at him. "Keep them off my ass. I'm going to go check Four and Six." I instructed.

"Got your back." He replied as I took off running, shooting at anything that moved toward me. I took out one of them before reaching Six and Four's stunned bodies.

"Let's go." I snapped and pulled them up by their arms. They weren't helping at all as my still powerless body towed their heavy bodies across the room out of harms way. I let their arms drop when I reached an area where I could fight but still watch them is anyone came their way. "Stay." I snapped when they both slumped back to the floor.

"N-Nine?" Six stammered.

"Yes, sissy. I'm alive." I replied.

"I-is that…" Four's still stunned voice faded away.

"Number Five? Yeah, it is. Useless, right?" I snapped as both of their sets of eyes widened.

"Nine-…"

"Nine!" Five's voice cut my sister off. I whirled around just in time to see Five in the arms of a Mogadorian. A second Mog was running at him with a knife pointed toward his chest.

"No!" I screamed and instinctively put my hand up to call the knife to my powerless body. A wave of fear shot through me when I realized it wouldn't work… a wave of relief shot through me when I felt the handle in my hand. I moved with out thinking, taking off at full speed and not stopping until I had the Mog's dagger plunged into his own chest. After he went up in ashes, I spun around at a break-neck speed and plunged the dagger into the Mog holding Five's only obtainable body part: his head. I felt some remorse as I watched him go up in ash.

"Look out!" Five screamed and ripped my knife from my belt loop and stabbed it under my raised arm and into a Mog that had approached up from behind. I glanced behind me out of the corner of my eye just as the Mog went up in ashes.

"T-thanks." I murmured.

"N-no problem." He breathed. "T-Titus!" Five screamed and ran passed me. I whirled around just in time to see a knife plunged into Titus's chest…

"Shit!" I screamed and took off running toward them. The Mog that got him had been the one closest to Marianne, the one that had done all the talking earlier. He pulled the knife out and let Titus drop to the ground. Five rushed to his side while I leaped on the Mog, wrapping my arms and legs around his torso. I was about to snap his neck when he shoved me off of him. I landed next to Titus. I was seeing red as I got to my feet, wiping a spot of blood from my chin. The Mog pulled his knife back out, but not toward me.

At Marianne…

"You said you killed this brat. You said you stabbed her." The Mog snapped as he went in for the kill. I had to do something… Marianne was still on our side…

"Wait." I snapped. The Mog stopped moving and turned his blazing, red eyes toward me. "You don't want to hurt her." I was in his head.

"Oh yeah? And why's that, Loric?" He growled at me.

"The same reason Titus tried to take you out. Love." I spat at him. His eyes widened. I saw his fingers partly loosen on the handle. "She reminds you of the one you loved." I had him. "The one that was killed in the final battle on Lorien." I watched the scene play in his head. I recognized the killer by her eyes. "By Lyn… my mother…" I heard Six gasp. "I am Number Nine, the youngest daughter of Arun and Lyn…" The Mog looked pained. "I know how much you miss her… I know how much it hurts…" I stepped closer to the Mog. "Marianne did stab me." I lifted up my shirt just enough to show the scar. "I did go up in ashes… But that was a trick. Marianne did think she had killed me…" I dropped my shirt. "Let's call that a magic trick." I lied easily.

"Why, why would you save her?" The Mog said quietly.

"She saved my countless times as my protector… It seemed only fair that I save hers once…" I replied.

"You Lorics sure are humble, I'll give you that." The Mog released Marianne, terror clear in her eyes.

"Cross me again and see just how humble I am." I glared at Marianne as I spoke.

"We'll retreat for now." The Mog instructed and motioned for the remaining couple of Mogs out the door. He began walking toward the door himself. Directly passed me. "Until next time, Nine." Our eyes met as he passed. I nodded once then he walked out of the door. Marianne slid over to Titus. I crouched next to him as well and picked up one of his cold hands.

"I love you so much." I watched her kiss him quickly but passionately.

"I-I love y-you t-too… Marianne…" He said with his dying breath. Marianne looked away with tears in her eyes and then followed the Mog out. I felt tears welling in my own eyes as Titus slowly turned to ash right in mine and Five's hands.

"Six, Four, let the others out." I said through an unsteady voice as I stood up. I heard them moving quickly behind me as I helped Five to his feet. I noticed tears streaming down his face. I felt mine overflow too as I pulled him into a tight hug. "He was an amazing person, and a kickass protector." I told him.

"I know." He mouthed as sobs ripped through both of. I wiped my eyes and slowly turned around to see the flock, Ari, Six, and Four just watching us.

"Let's go." I said quietly as I held one of Five's arms to stabilize his trembling body. Four stepped forward and grabbed Five's other arm.

"Look, Nine," My sister appeared at my other side. "When we-…"

"Save it. None of that matters right now." I silenced her with an icy glare. She nodded solemnly and Four and I began towing Five toward the door followed by everyone else. I refused to look at anyone for fear of breaking into a hysterical crying if I saw any of my friends. Five's face was blank. I can't blame him though… Titus, his father figure, was just killed in front of his eyes… That would shake me up too…

When we were outside, Four and I help Five into the passenger side of Titus's Prius, he was too shaken up to drive. Well I mean… so was I… but I wasn't ready to admit it…

"I'm going with Five. He to shaken up to do anything but just sit there and try to comprehend what just happened." I told everyone after they had all gathered around me.

"We can see that. But the question is, are you okay?" Max asked.

"Fine." I shoved my hands into my jeans pockets.

"Nine," My sister put a hand on my shoulder.

"I said I'm fine, okay?" I lashed out. I still refused to look at anyone. I tried to struggle out of Six's grasp but she wouldn't let go.

"Jenna, look at me." She used my name for the first time. I forced myself to rip my gaze from the ground and finally looked into my sister's eyes and then, just as I thought, I broke down crying. I sank to the ground and just let the sobs rip their way through me. Today's events finally took their toll on me. Titus, losing Marianne once more, watching Mog after Mog die… This was not the life I wanted to lead. Why, why me? Why did I get stuck with this unstable, death trap of a life?

I felt the hand still squeezed my shoulder, calming me down in the slightest way. I felt another person kneel at my other side, pulling me into a tight, unexpected hug. My first instinct was to fight, not wanted to be calmed. I just wanted to cry my eyes out…

"Jenna, Jenna, stop. You're safe now." A voice whispered soothingly into my squirming ear. I knew right away just whom this voice belonged too: Ari.

"Is she okay?" I heard Five's deep, accented voice cut into my ears as I felt my body slowly begin to relax in Ari's arms. Five had regained himself while I was still blubbering like an upset, little child. I sniffled once more and then I felt my eyes suddenly dry as I plastered on a much calmer voice.

"I actually think I'm okay now." I sighed and looked up. First thing I saw: Ari's troubled, dark eyes. "Ari, I'm good. Really." I whispered to him. He hesitated for a moment before releasing my from his tight grasp. He kept one of my hands in his as we slowly got up. "Hey, guys…" I said and smiled awkwardly. First one that ran at me: Nudge.

"Stop. Making. Me. Think. You're. Dead." She growled and hit me with every word.

"Nudge, you're actually going to kill me!" I shrieked and tried to save myself as she beat me harder then the Mogs had. Max and Iggy pulled her away. Max was the next one to me. She hugged me hard.

"Second time, Jenna." She muttered into my ear.

"And hopefully the last." I shrugged against her.

"Better be." She grumbled as she pulled away and made room for Fang to get to me. He silently wrapped his arms around me and squeezed me once before letting me go. It was sure the shortest hug I had ever received, but I'll take it from Fang. Gazzy and Angel both rushed me at once. I wrapped one of my arms around both of them, my hand still in Ari's. After the Gasman and Angel were done, Iggy trudged his way over to me all nervous like.

"Uh, I'm glad you're not dead…" He muttered as he ran his fingers through his strawberry-blond hair awkwardly.

"Yeah, me too." I nodded just as awkwardly. Uh, then we kind of hugged… Kind of… For me it seemed like it would be exactly like what hugging your eighty-two year-old great, great uncle who smells like nothing but bologna and mustard… but that's just me… Sam rushed me next, nearly knocking me over.

"You scared everybody." He whispered.

"Hey, the flock should be used to this by now." I snickered into his ear. Four came to me next.

"Good to have you back, Nine." He said to me. Him calling me useless played over and over again in my head. My sister agreeing made me want to hurl…

"Thanks, Four." I nodded. I think he could sense I was still pissed. Good. I didn't want to have to tell him. Six pushed passed him and threw her arms around me.

"If you ever make me think you're dead EVER again, I'll shoot you myself." She growled against my ear.

"Is that a threat, or a promise?" I snickered back.

"Both. And don't you ever forget that." She hissed and pulled away. I smiled one last time at her before everyone's eyes fell on Five.

"Don't be shy, dearie." I winked at him as Ari's arm coiled around my waist and pulled me closer to his chest.

"Oh, right. Hi… Uh, I'm number Five… but you can call me Allen if you want… Five works too though…" He said insecurely. He looked so cute and nervous. Everyone began introducing themselves as Ari leaned in and pecked my lips.

"Hey, you." I whispered to him, not wanting to draw attention to us.

"Hey." He smiled at me. "I thought you were dead." His smiled faded.

"Yeah… Sorry 'bout that." I felt my face turn sad.

"It's okay, thought. You're back now." His smile returned. "And you being gone made me realize something…" His hands slid down my arms and picked up both of my hands.

"And what's that?" I smiled.

"I, uh, lo-…" He stopped all nervous-like. I think I knew where this was going. "I lov-…" He stopped again. His hands were shaking.

"Ari," I stopped him after a few more tries.

"Huh?" He stopped.

"Just kiss me." I giggled.

"That I can do." He snickered and leaned his head in. His lips crushed against me with such lust, I couldn't help but giggle against his lips. "I love you, so much." He whispered against my mouth and then kept his pressed against mine.

"I love you, too." My smile grew against his lips.

"Awww." I heard Nudge's voice ruin the moment. Ari's and my eyes widened as we pulled away from each other and I clapped one of my hands over my mouth in shock.

"How adorable." Max winked at us.

"Stop it." I snickered.

"You two are so cute. I'm sure you two will have such pretty babies." Max mocked.

"Who said anything about babies?" Ari looked shocked and looked at me.

"Allen, get in the Prius." I snapped and got in the car I was perched in front of. Five just laughed, much like everyone else except Ari. I opened the sunroof and popped my torso out of it. "Allen, in the Prius." I snapped again and pointed my finger down toward the black car. Five snickered one more time and shook his head as he walked toward the passenger side of the car. "Guys, just fly away." I shooed them away.

"But I can't fly." Four whined.

"Not you three." I sighed. "Go. Shoo." I snapped with my torso still hanging out of the opened sunroof.

"Up and away, guys." Max laughed as her and her flock took to the skies.

"And I'll see you when you land." I smiled and leaned down so Ari could kiss me again.

"Love you, babe." He snickered and pecked my lips quickly but lovingly.

"Love you, too." I smiled against his mouth once more. I watched as he backed away and took off into the air. I whistled for Bernie to come back from where we had left him to guard the area. He came trotting back not three seconds later. I motioned for Sam to pick him up and then popped back into the Prius with Five.

"So that was Ari, huh?" Five snickered as I started the eco-friendly car.

"No. I just had my mouth on him and told him I loved him because he was just an average-Joe I met on the street today." I replied sarcastically as I watched Four, Sam, and Bernie get in the truck and my sister straddle her red motorcycle.

"That Nudge chick is pretty cute." Five snickered.

"Don't even think about it." I snapped as I put the car in gear.

"Already have." I heard the smile in his voice as he leaned back in his seat.

"She could kick your ass." I replied as all three vehicles began moving at once.

"I don't doubt it." He chuckled as we hit the open road. I shook my head as I sped up, following behind Four and Sam. Six was leading in front.

And we were on the move again toward the dark Texas horizon. This was the first time I have ever left with less people then I entered with…

I swear by all that is good in me, this will never happen ever again.

* * *

**Holy bagebiers this chapter is long... Hope you liked the longness... and the story... If you didn't, my baby angel-faced reader, tell me why... or tell me why you liked it... that works too. Loves you! :D**


	22. Chapter 22

"So how do they have wings?" Five asked, turning down the radio after about an hour of driving. It was decided that as soon as we crossed boarder into New Mexico, we were going to stop at the nearest town for the night.

"They grew up in a place called the School where they were subjected to horrible experiments." I explained with out looking from the windshield.

"That sounds suckish…" Five mumbled.

"Yeah… It really puts our lives into a whole different perspective… I mean, at least we weren't tortured on our own planet…" I muttered.

"Kind of…" I saw him shrug out of the corner of my eye. Then, silence… The awkward kind… I nonchalantly, and by nonchalantly I meant I thought I was being discreet but it was actually the most obvious thing on the planet, turned the radio back up while the song Let Me See by Usher was on… Pretty soon, Six, Four, and I pulled our vehicles into a dumpy looking motel parking lot in the middle of literal, freaking nowhere. Only other things anywhere near it, a McDonalds across the street.

Weird set-up, right? I think so anyway… it just seems fishy…

Anywho… I turned Titus's Prius off and Five and I got out of the black car into the black, rainy air… did I mention it was raining? Well, it was pouring!

Well damn, there goes my crappy hairdo.

Six walked over to Five and I while Four and Sam went into the main office. Six looked really tired… Like, I don't know how she was actually awake right now with the amount of staggering she was doing. I grabbed one of her arms to stabilize her when she reached us. She immediately leaned heavily on me for support.

"Gosh Six, when was the last time you slept?" I asked.

"Three-fourish days ago." She slurred as her eyes closed against my arm.

"How the heck were you driving?" I whispered when she feel asleep right there, standing up. A few seconds later, the flock and Ari joined us in the parking lot.

"Hey, you." Ari smiled and walked up to me.

"Hey, stud." I smiled as he leaned in and kissed my lips.

"What's up with her?" Max asked as she walked up behind Ari.

"She's sleepy." I snickered and poked her shoulder.

"I'm awake, I'm awake." My sissy slurred as she stood up on her own two feet.

"Sure you are." I snickered again as Four and Sam returned.

"I got us two rooms." Four mumbled. He looked just as tired as Six was. "How are we splitting?"

"Well," I decided to be the know-it-all. "We could go boys and girls, the flock and others," I winked at Max. "Lorics and humans, or Iggy, Nudge, Ari, Gazzy, and I and Max, Fang-…"

"Stop it." My sister slapped a hand over my mouth. "Ew, that's gross!" She exclaimed when I licked her hand.

"We have the same DNA. Calm yourself, sissy dearest." I said as she ripped her hand away and wiped it on her jeans. She pursed her lips all annoyed like. Ahhhh… the life of the younger sibling…

It ended up being the flock in one room and everyone else in the other. I got to pick which room I was in, aren't I special? I picked to be in the other's room to make it an even six in each, plus I could tell Ari didn't want me to leave him again… and I didn't either…

Six and I were sharing the only bed in the room while the guys were sprawled out on the floor. Bernie was lying in the middle of Six and I already sleeping. Six had passed out too while John, Sam, and Ari looked like they were about to pass out any second. I was watching Ari, who was lying off to the side of the bed closest the side I was on. My hand dangled by his head, playing with his hair. Five was watching TV quietly, leaning against the foot of the bed.

"Five, you should lay down." I nudged the back of his head with my foot.

"I don't want too." He whispered.

"Why not?" I pulled my hand away and sat up.

"Every time I close my eyes, I see Titus. I could've saved him…" He turned and faced me.

"Allen," I shimmied closer to him. "Titus was a great man. He would want you to take care of yourself and not dwell on him being gone. There was nothing any of us could do…" I whispered. He nodded sadly and hit the power button for the TV. He laid down after that. I switched the light on the bedside table off and rested my head on the disgusting pillow. Then, I waited for sleep to hit me like a speeding train… which it didn't… I tossed and turned for hours on end… not fun… at all…

I decided that maybe I would sleep if I were next to Ari… I sighed and rolled off of the bed and landing next to Ari… dynamic entry… I sighed and snuggled closer to him hoping that being close to him would relax me enough for me to fall asleep. I laid there for a few sleepless minutes before I felt Ari's arms wrap around me.

"You still awake?" He mumbled into my hair.

"No. I sleep roll. Haven't you noticed?" I replied. "Did I wake you up?" I sighed against his chest.

"Nah. I was up." I felt him shrug.

"Sure you were." I mumbled.

"Why can't you sleep?" He whispered and propped himself up on his elbow.

"Shaken up from earlier, I guess." I looked up at him.

"Want to go for a walk of something?" He asked.

"You should sleep." I insisted.

"So should you, but you can't." He replied.

"Yeah." I sighed.

"Want to go?" He asked again.

"Sure." I shrugged and we both got up. Ari kept his arm around my waist as we walked out of the motel room. "Where are we going?" I asked as we started toward the woods where the flock and Ari had first landed.

"Just around." Ari shrugged as we walked through the first set of trees. Ari dropped my waist and picked up my hand as we continued forward.

"I like just around." I shrugged. "As long as there's not Mogadorians…" I added. "Or erasers that aren't you." I winked at him.

"Adorable." He snickered.

"What did you expect? I am me." I looked up at him.

"Of course, my bad." He chuckled and smiled down at me.

"Yeah, it is your bad, and don't you forget it." I said and poked his tummy. He winced as if he was in pain or something. "What'd I do?" My eyes widened.

"Nothing." He smiled. One of the Mogs got me when I mocked him." He snickered.

"You mocked a Mog?" A smile grew on my lips.

"Yeah." He grinned.

"I'm so proud of you." I pinched my lover's cheek. "Now, let me see it." I said.

"Wait, what?" He replied.

"Shut up and strip." I told him and tugged at his black muscle shirt. He sighed and helped me slide his shirt up his chest, me of course sliding my hands up his perfect abs… I bit my lip quickly as my suddenly muscular, shirtless boyfriend-ish guy stood in front of me…

"A-aw… He bruised you… I'll kill him." I recovered quickly when I tasted blood from my lip on my tongue.

"It really doesn't hurt." He snickered.

"Oh, really?" I grinned evilly and poked the large bruise that was on his torso.

"Well, when you touch it… is your lip bleeding?" His smile faded as he ran his thumb over my bleeding lower lip.

"No…" I mumbled as my eyes shifted from left to right.

"You're always bleeding." He snickered and kissed my head.

"I resent that." I replied and playfully pushed him away.

"C'mon." He snickered and grabbed the hand I used to push him away and used it to pull me into his bare chest.

"Stop it." I whined into his chest but then I giggled when I couldn't keep a straight face anymore. I wrapped my arms around his neck and tangled my fingers into his hair.

"I've been waiting to get you alone." He breathed into my neck. His breath made the hairs on my neck stand up.

"Oh, really? Why?" I craned my neck so I could see his face.

"Because I don't feel comfortable doing this," He crushed his lips hard but gentle against mine. "In front of your very protective older sister when I know she can kick my ass." He finished when he pulled away about a minute later.

"Good plan." I giggled and then we were kissing again. His hands cupped my face as my fingers tangled further into his hair. I felt his hands slid down my sides and stop when they were resting on my hips. He lifted me slightly into the air and leaned me against a tree trunk as I ran my hands down his chest and over his very sexy abs…

"I love you." He whispered against my mouth and then kissed me again. I felt his arms coil up my back and pull me closer into him.

"I love you too." I mumbled against his parted lips. I felt him smile and then his head dipped down and he started kissing my neck. I heard quiet moans escape from my throat and out of my mouth as my eyes fluttered shut. I re-tangled my fingers in his dark hair as he continued. My body suddenly tensed as I realized what going on.

"Just relax." Ari breathed into my neck and his lips were back on mine. I pretty much melted as soon as our lips made contact. I felt his hands slip under my shirt. His hands felt cold against my back. I felt my shirt sliding up my torso; it was about half way up my back when I heard a twig snap somewhere in the woods.

"What was that?" I pulled away from Ari.

"Probably just some animal." He replied and pulled me into another passionate kiss.

"Ari, stop." I pushed him away gently. "I think someone's coming." I said as he dropped my shirt. I broke away from him and flashed over to his shirt I had dropped on the ground, picked it up, and chucked it at him. "Go away for like two seconds." I hissed as he caught it. He nodded and disappeared into the trees just as my sister appeared in front of me.

"Hey, you…" I whirled around awkward.

"Hey, yourself…" Her heavily Australian accent replied. "What are you doing out here?" She asked.

"Couldn't sleep. Decided to go for a walk." I shrugged and shoved my hands into my jeans pockets.

"With or without Ari?" She asked.

"With." I replied.

"And he is?" Her eyebrow rose.

"Peeing." I shrugged. "Why aren't you sleeping?" I asked her.

"I woke up, felt next to me, didn't feel you, and I saw you weren't there, so I got up." She told me as she stepped closer to me.

"How sweet, you care." I smiled crookedly at her.

"Of course I do. And now I'm concerned. Why is your neck red right here?" She touched the spot on my neck where Ari had had his mouth all over…

"Oh, you know me… I fell…" I replied.

"Are you okay?" She asked. She didn't believe me…

"Yeah, fine." I shrugged.

"Good." She nodded just as Ari came back into view, no longer showing off his freaking amazing abs.

"Hey, Six…" He said when he saw her.

"Ari." She nodded at him. "Let's go back." She sent one last glare my way and then turned her back to us. Ari and I looked at each other. I shrugged, knowing what he was thinking. "I don't hear footsteps." She snapped as she walked on. I shrugged again and took off after my sister. Ari followed me and soon, we were back inside. "Bed. Now." She glared at me. I nodded and she watched me climb onto the lumpy motel mattress. She then climbed in next to me and wrapped one of her arms around me, probably so she would know if I got up again. "Go to sleep." She whispered into ear.

"Kay-kay." I mumbled and leaned against her. 'Night.' I mouthed to Ari as he laid down on the floor.

'I love you.' He mouthed back and then rested his head on the floor after I smiled. I smiled bigger when I slid my hand over the spot on my neck where Ari had kissed, remembering what had just happened. My smiled faded when I realized what Ari and I almost just did… Huh… I should pay more attention…

I closed my eyes and fell asleep about two seconds later…

"Hey, wake up." I heard what felt like a few seconds later. "Nine, get up…" I felt someone shake me gently. "Nine!" The voice snapped a few seconds later and I felt a something thump me hard in the tummy.

"Where am I?" I exclaimed clueless and groggy as I jolted upright in bed.

"The motel..." My sister's eyes met mine and I was suddenly calmer. "Wake up the first time next time." She said as my shoulders relaxed.

"How long have I been sleeping?" I asked as I stretched.

"At least twelve hours. We all have." She said.

"Felt like seconds…" I mumbled as I rubbed my sleepy eyes.

"It really did." She sighed and I leaned my head against her shoulder. "Four, Sam, Ari, Five, you guys up yet?" She called as she adjusted her arm so it was propping her up but also draping around me.

"Well, Nine's yelling didn't really help with me staying asleep…" Sam's groggy voice replied.

"Sorry, guys. Sissy-dearest scared me." I mumbled almost unrecognizable as my eyes fluttered shut.

"Good going, Six." Four mocked.

"Whatever." She sighed and leaned her cheek against my head. I felt her face heat up under my hair... Was she blushing? No freaking way…

"Guys, I'm starving." I whined and opened my eyes, my voice groggy.

"Me too." Four stood up. "Here, Nine." He handed me Marianne's credit card that I let him keep so he would feel like a big boy. "Go buy food."

"Why me?" I yawned and lifted my head up.

"You woke us up." Four said.

"Will someone come with me?" I turned all puppy-eyed. "I nominate Ari." I said when no one spoke up.

"Yeah, like I'm letting you two lovebirds go anywhere alone." Six crossed her arms.

But-"

"No buts." She interrupted me.

"But-"

"I said no buts." She snapped again.

But-"

"Nine," She warned by raising an eyebrow.

"Fine. Five, let's go." I snapped and glanced at him. "Happy?" I glared at my sister.

"Ecstatic." She smiled at me. I rolled my eyes and got up. I went to the bathroom and fixed my hair. Bed head did not look cute on me. When I was done, I went back into the room part.

"C'mon, Five." I beckoned. He got to his feet and followed me out the door. We crossed the street and went into the shifty McDonald's. "Should we get a lot of just random stuff?" I asked him as we approached the counter.

"Yeah, I guess." He shrugged.

"How can I help you?" The worker lady smiled at us.

"Can I get-" I took a deep breath. "Two number ones, six number twos, eight number sevens, four number threes, four number nines, three number tens, and twelve number twelve's…" I said all in the one breath. She just stared, wide-eyed. "Oh, and a low-fat yogurt… Watching my figure…"I added and watched her eyebrow rise.

"Having a party?" She asked as she punched our order into the computer.

"Nope. Just us." I said and handed her the credit card. She made a weird face as she took and swiped it. After getting our food, filling and balancing countless drinks into Five's arms, and saying thank you to the lady, we were headed back across the street and back to the motel. The smell of the food I had in my arms was causing my mouth to water… I wanted it all… When we were inside, I noticed everyone was in here… It was packed… "Hey, kiddies." I said as I set everything down an the little desk thingy…

"Hey." Everyone said at least once. A few minutes later, the food was all distributed and I was sitting on the bed with Six, Nudge, Max and Angel. Everyone was silent as we all stuffed our faces. Four's head suddenly snapped up.

"Nine, you're alive!" He screamed.

"Yeah… I thought we already discussed this." I said and took a bite of whatever I was eating.

"How?" He snapped. "You said you went up in ashes… like a magic trick… Since when can you do that?" He asked quickly.

"How did you even do that?" Six chimed in. Everyone suddenly looked confused.

"Oh, that's simple." I snickered. "I can't." I looked from face to face.

"Then why did you…" Six was so deep in thought that her voice cut out.

"I lied, children." I chuckled casually and shoved more food into my mouth.

"Why?" Four almost screamed.

"Calm down. It was the only way to save Marianne." I shrugged.

"THAT." Six screamed. "Why the hell would you save that traitor's life?" She was still screaming. "Oh, and don't you dare give that whole humble shit again!"

"Guys, that's simple. Marianne never tried to kill Jenna in the first place." Angel chimed in suddenly.

"You know?" I looked down at her.

"I read your mind on the cliff before being dragged off." She shrugged casually.

"Clever." I winked at her and looked back at everyone's confused faces.

"But Marianne was a-"

"No, she wasn't Four." I snapped quickly. "She faked betraying me to get close to the Mogs and lead them off our trails." Everyone's jaws dropped except Angel's, Five's, and mine. "She's probably the only reason we're not fighting 24/7." I shrugged.

"And the thing you said about Mother…?" Six asked. Her voice much quieter...

"That was true. I saw it in his head." I sighed and set my food back in the wrapper. "My protector reminds him of the chick he loved that Mother killed of our planet." I sighed.

"Maybe that's why Nine's in the most danger out of any of us! That Mog is holding a grudge!" Four yelped and then slapped his hand over his mouth as his eyes widened. Everyone turned and glared at him.

"Come again?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, it's nothing…" Six replied.

"What about me being in danger is nothing?" I snapped.

"We didn't want you to freak out…" Four mumbled.

"Well I am freaking out. Now, someone tell me what the hell is going on before I feel like you don't trust me and leave." I crossed my arms.

"Would you actually do that after we said something about you being in more danger then the rest of us?" Six raised an eyebrow.

"Try me." I warned.

"Okay, okay," Four sighed. "When the flock and Six were being held at the base, a Mog told them that you were in the most danger as any of us." He explained.

"Well, that would've been nice to know before I charged into a base after all of you!" I snapped.

"Would that have stopped you?" Four raised an eyebrow.

"Well, no. But, still." I yelled. I haven't been this pissed in a really, really long time.

"About that, did you even have a plan or were you three just going in blind?" Six hissed.

"Oh, do not turn this around on me!" I growled. "How about calling me useless? What the hell was that about?" My voice rose.

"Are we really going to fight right now? Is that what we're going to do?" Six's voice rose as well.

"That's exactly what we're going to do because I need answers, and it doesn't seem like I'm going to get any without getting pissed of threatening to leave!" I snapped.

"Nine, just stop. You're being childish and dramatic." Six crossed her arms.

"Yeah, maybe I am. But I need answers. And you avoiding my questions and hiding things from me make me think that you really don't trust me." I growled. A lot of people gasped.

"Do you really think that?" Four snapped.

"Yeah, Four, I do." I turned my glare on him. "Don't act shocked. If you actually trusted me, you would just tell me things, which apparently you don't." I hissed.

"We just want to protect you…" Six said.

"Well thanks. But keeping things from me and calling me useless isn't really protecting me." I snapped. Then everyone was silent. I was beyond pissed.

About twenty minutes later, we were getting ready to leave. I was going to drive Five in the Prius again. Ari came up to me while I was shoving my backpack into the backseat.

"Hey." He said.

"Hey." I whispered.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Pissed, but fine." I shrugged.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"Why? It's not like you knew or anything." I shrugged again. His face suddenly changed. "You did, didn't you?" My face fell. He didn't move or speak. "Wow, did everyone know?" I snapped. He nodded slowly. "Why didn't anybody tell me?" I whisper snapped. "More importantly, why didn't you tell me?" I crossed my arms. "I thought we didn't have secrets." I sighed and leaned against the car.

"Jenna, they didn't want you to know." He said quietly.

"So? I wanted to know." I replied as he stepped closer to me.

"I'm sorry…" He said and pulled me gently into a hug, which I wiggled my way out of, my arms still crossed.

"Look, I love you, but I am very pissed at a lot of people right now." My voice cracked as I ripped the driver side door and got in the black car. I slammed the door behind me and watched Ari sigh in the mirror. Sure I felt bad, but why would the people I trust with my life not tell me important things about something? Me of all something's!

Sigh. This was stressful…

Five soon joined me in the Prius. He had been flirting it up with Nudge while Ari and I had been fighting.

"Hey." He said, his face still flushed.

"What's up?" I replied and turned the key in the ignition.

"So, uh, what happened in there?" He asked as the Prius revved to life.

"You're guess is as good as mine." I snapped as I angrily buckled my seatbelt. "They've all been hiding stuff from me." I sighed.

"I'm sure they didn't mean to hurt you." Five said.

"Yeah, still." I grumbled.

"Don't get me wrong, I'd be pissed off too." He shrugged and leaned back in his seat.

"Whatever." I sighed and crossed my arms tightly. I glanced out the window. Ari and I made eye contact one last time… his eyes were so sad… I ripped my gaze away when I felt tears welling in my eyes. After the flock took off into the air, Six straddled her motorcycle and Four, Sam, and Bernie got in the truck. All three of them glanced at me at least once. I shrugged it off and put the Prius in gear and then took my foot off of the brake when Four finally moved forward. Then, we were on the road. Five and I were jamming out to whatever the radio had to offer as the seemingly endless drive dragged on. My phone went off in my pocket what felt like an eternity later. I sighed and struggled to get my phone out of my skinny jeans.

"It's going to go to voicemail." Five said.

"I know, Five." I groaned as I managed to wrestle it into my hands. "Ugh, it's Four. Answer it." I threw my phone to Five.

"Hello?" He sighed as he reluctantly answered the call. "She's driving." … "Why?" … "Fine." He sighed. "Jenna, he wants to talk to you." Five said and held my phone out to me. I shook my head. He sighed again. "She doesn't want to talk to you." He said into the phone. I saw Sam glance back at us from in the passenger side. I glared back at him from under my sunglasses as Four and Five continued arguing. "He's insisting." Five snapped.

"Ugh." I grunted and held my hand that wasn't on the steering wheel out. "What?" I snapped when the phone was at my ear.

"I take it you're still mad." Four's voice said.

"A little. What did you want, or did you just call just to hear my voice?" I snapped.

"I'm almost out of gas and I'm sure the flock needs a break. Get in front of Six and at the next exit, lead her off." Four instructed.

"Why can't you do it?" I asked. I was sure annoyance was clear in my tone.

"She'll get mad at me for passing her and I've still got to call Max." Four replied all shy like.

"And she won't get mad at me?" I snapped. I wasn't even really mad anymore… but I didn't want them knowing that…

"She loves you." I heard the shrug in his voice.

"Yeah, yeah. Anything else?" I groaned, that actually made me feel bad about getting mad…

"Not yet." He replied.

"Kay-kay." I said and then hung up. I tossed it to Five and got in the passing lane, using my blinker of course. I then sped up and whizzed passed Four and Sam then Six on her motorcycle without even glancing at her. I got back over when I was a safe distance away, again, with my blinker. Safety first… A few seconds of leading later, I put on my trusty blinker again and pulled toward an exit. Six and Four were on my tail as I pulled into the nearest gas station's parking lot. Four pulled up to a pump while Six and I both pulled into parking spots.

"You getting out?" Five asked me.

"I don't want to talk to them." I crossed my arms and huffed.

"Well, you should stretch." Five shrugged. I sighed and then opened my door. Five followed my example and we both climbed out.

"You getting gas?" Six asked me as she pulled off the helmet I had given her.

"Nah. I still have over half a tank." I said quietly with my hands shoved in my pockets as Five and I walked passed her and went into the building. I heard her sigh as we entered. She still thought I was mad.

"I think she can tell you're still mad." Five said what I was thinking.

"Good." I shrugged, my lips pressed in a hard line. "I want liquids." I said quickly and made a B-line for the drinks. Five followed me. "Voltage." I grinned and pulled out a thing of Mountain Dew Voltage.

"Good idea." Five agreed and got one for him. I felt the phone in my pocket go off suddenly. Caller I.D. said Sarah. Who's Sarah?

"Hello?" I answered it.

"Six?" A girl's voice breathed.

"Nope, Nine. Who's this?" I replied.

"Is John there?" She asked.

"Uh, yeah. Hang on like two seconds." I said and handed my voltage to Five. "Be right back." I told him and walked back outside and went over to Four who was talking to Max, Fang, Sam, and Six about me, I heard my name as I approached. "Phone for you, Johnny Boy." I said and held up the phone.

"Who is it?" His eyebrow rose.

"I don't know. Sadie, Suzie?" He swiped the phone from my hand, his eyes wide.

"Sarah?" He breathed and walked away.

"Who's Sarah?" I looked at Six.

"His girlfriend." She replied. Her face was weird.

"Aw, how precious. What pump is Four on? I'll go pay." I said.

"Four." Sam told me.

"Ah, I see what he did there." I replied. Everyone cracked a smile as I turned to walk away, well, except Fang… But he only smiles when he figures out someone isn't dead… I know that quite well.

"Nine, wait." Six caught my arm.

"Hm?" I looked up at her.

"I'm sorry for keeping things from you." She said. "You were right, we are a team, we should've told you when we found out."

"It's fine." I snickered.

"Are you still mad?" She asked. I think she was actually scared.

"Not mad, just disappointed." I replied.

"That's even worse." Six grumbled.

"Exactly." I winked and then turned to go back inside.

"What was that about?" Five asked when I was next to him.

"I love confusing me some kiddies." I told him and went to the counter.

"Hello." The guy greeted.

"Hello." I smiled as Five set the two Voltages on the counter. "Pump four as well." I told him.

"Alright, that will be $82.57." He said. I handed him the credit card and waited. "Thank you, have a nice day." He said and handed the card back.

"Thanks, you too." I smiled and Five and I walked outside. Four was back and he and Six were arguing about something while Fang, Max, and Sam just stood there wide-eyed. "Get in the Prius." I ordered Five and went over to them.

"Children, let's behave or there will be no gold stars for either of you." I said as I approached. "Now, who stole whose lunch money?" I crossed my arms as the two shut up.

"We're going to Paradise." Four growled.

"How do we know it's not a trap?" Six snapped. They started bickering again. I tried to get them to shut up again with no luck.

"I'm pregnant." I said. That shut them up. Six's eyes widened and everyone looked shocked. "Just kidding, that shut you up." I snickered. "Now, what's going on?" I asked when everyone breathed sighs of relief.

"I think Sarah's in danger." Four said.

"What makes you think that?" I asked.

"I just got the feeling when she wouldn't tell me what was happening." Four shrugged.

"You're acting on impulse." Six snapped.

"Impulse is good. It's the nature's way of telling you to do something." I looked at her. "C'mon sissy," I nudged her. "We should at least check it out." I shrugged. Her shoulders relaxed a bit.

"I guess it couldn't hurt." She reluctantly shrugged.

"When you say Paradise…" I looked at Four.

"Ohio. Paradise, Ohio." He replied.

"That's a long, long, long, long, long, long-"

"Nine." Six snapped.

"Drive." I finished.

"Yeah. Better get going." Four shrugged and handed me his phone back. He turned and went back to his truck. Sam followed him.

"Well, bye to you two, too." I said after them. "Tell everyone I said hi." I looked at Max.

"Will do." She smiled and her and Fang turned to head back to where ever the rest of them were. Six and I took off toward our vehicles.

"Drive safe." She said as she slipped into the helmet and then threw her arms around me.

"No promises." I snickered as I ducked out of her embrace and into the Prius. "Going to Ohio." I said as I buckled my seatbelt and started the car.

"But we're in like New Mexico…" Five mumbled.

"And now we're going to like Ohio." I replied as I followed Six out of the parking lot. Four had already taken off… speedy little dude… We eventually caught up after we got on the freeway. I glanced up at the sky and squinted under my sunglasses. Way up there, flew my best friends, I could barely make out their outlines. I sighed as I turned my gaze back to the road.

"What?" Five asked.

"I don't like the way I left things with Ari." I told him.

"You'll see him soon enough." He shrugged.

"Yeah." I sighed. "I guess."

"Whatever happens, I'm sure he'll forgive you. The dude is madly in love with you. I mean anyone with eyes can see that." I saw Five's head turned out of the corner of my eye.

"Really?" I glanced at him as my face flushed deep red and a smile formed on my lips.

"Duh." He chuckled. "Exactly how everyone can tell you're madly in love with him. That Iggy guy gets pissed every time he sees you two within five feet of each other."

"Iggy's blind. He can't see us." I told him.

"Well, he knows and gets pissed every time." Five snickered.

"Nice." I smiled as we continued into the blazing sun. Ohio would roll into view soon enough, with hopefully little or none Mog or Eraser disturbance.

This is the part I dreaded, the constant running… and now I had friends, humans, dragged into it… As okay with it as they are you can't imagine how difficult it is watching innocent bystanders who you care about into the line of fire… It's freaking difficult…

Trust me on that one…

* * *

**Hey my lovely little reader! I'm so sorry this took so long to come to life... I've been stuck... Tell me watchu thought because your input really matters to me! I love to hear what you think! Loves you! :D **


	23. Chapter 23

I yawned as the sun began to disappear before my eyes behind the horizon. I glanced to Five beside me. I envied the way he was fast asleep in the passenger seat while I was stuck driving. I knew we'd be stopping soon; the flock would need to rest, as would I. As for what state we were in, I had no clue. I was only watching the road, not the signs. That was my sissy's job, what with her being in front and all.

"Five." I said. "Fiiiive." I said louder. "Allen!" I shrieked.

"Huh?" He twitched awake.

"I got lonely…" I pouted.

"Wow, Parker." He snickered and I saw him shake his head out the corner of my eye.

"You want to fight me, Jeffries?" I glanced at him.

"Yeah. I'd take you any day." He laughed quietly.

"Kinky." I winked just as Four and Six pulled off of the freeway. "Op. Shits going down." I said and followed them. The three of us stopped at the stop sign at the end of the exit. I turned onto the road when it was my turn. We were just driving along the road for about a half an hour when I saw the flashing red and blue behind me.

"Op. Po-po." Five snickered.

"What the hell? I'm not even speeding." I grumbled as I pulled along the side of the road. A uniformed officer was at my rolled down window not four seconds.

"Hello." He said.

"Hello, officer." I put on a fake smile.

"Do you have any idea how fast you were going?" He asked.

"Uh, the speed-limit?" I shrugged.

"Wrong. You were going three over." He replied. Wow. He pulled me over because I was going a wopping fifty-eight miles per hour… The little d-"License and registration please, ma'am." He ordered as I took off my sunglass, attitude included. I sighed as Five began digging through the glove box and I turned in my seat and dug through my backpack for my Jenna Parker I.D. I yanked it out when I found it. I plopped back in my seat and handed it to the officer as Five pushed the Prius's registration toward me. I took that to and shoved it into the officer's face as well, our eyes locked the entire time. "Ms. Parker, do yourself a favor and lose the attitude." He glared at me with his wild looking eyes.

"Strange," I mumbled.

"What was that?" He growled as our stare down continued.

"We've never seen each other before, and yet you know my name without even looking at my I.D." I crossed my arms.

"Clever girl." He smiled wickedly.

"Stupid mistake." I growled and then pushed him across the road using levitation.

"Mog?" Five asked wide-eyed as we dashed out of the car.

"Eraser, part human." I snapped when he was at me side. The now-morphed Eraser now had buddies flanking him.

"They were right, you are a freak." He chuckled deep and chilling. "You and your little boy toy are coming with us." He growled.

"You sure about that?" I hissed.

"I am." He smiled morbidly, and then, all hell broke loose. It began with the one in uniform jumping at me and pinning me against the Prius. "I'm going to make this hurt." He grinned before slammed his fist into me wide open stomach and I felt the air leave my lungs with one whoosh. I took the advantage and grabbed his arm and twisted it as hard as I could. I felt the pop and jerked him so my mouth was at his ear.

"So am I." I chuckled darkly and then threw him onto the ground. Something's arms coiled around my waist and threw me back. I landed hard on the pavement and quickly twisted back to my feet as I was charged at. I shoved the new guy back and out of the way just in time to see the first guy pop his arm back into place and turn his murderous glare on me.

These guys were stronger then I remembered; I'd give them that. But still, I was used to Mogs, and a Mog could kick an Eraser's ass any day. At least I think so…

He charged at me so quickly that all I had time to do was brace for impact. He knocked me off my feet and he and his pal started kicking the life out of me.

"Go get the other one, this one's all mine." He growled a few seconds later. He then picked me up by my hair and held me up as the other one shuffled away. "You're lucky they want you alive." He hissed into my ear, his cool breath sent shivers down my spine. "They want to figure out what you are, and trust me, it will not be pleasant." I heard the smile playing on his lips. I swung forward and slammed both of my feet into his chest. He crumpled to the ground, dropping my in the process, then it was my turn to kick the life out of him. I glanced up at Five who was doing way better then I was, taking on three while I only had one. While I was slightly distracted, the dude grabbed my foot and pushed on it so I fell flat on my back. He rolled up and came at me. I kicked at his face as he came towards me. I felt a crunch as the bottom of my foot collided with the tip of his nose. A deep growl ripped through his through his chest as I got to my feet quickly. Blood gushed from his crooked nose as I went after him. I levitated him into the air and threw him off of the side of the road. His body crashed into a tree before crumpling lifelessly to the ground.

Shit. Did I just…

Guilt flooded through me as the possibility of him being dead hit me like a speeding truck. Speaking of a speeding truck… I dashed off of the road just in time to avoid a honking semi-truck that wasn't stopping for the wild fight in the middle of the street, that silly, little human. I felt fingers coil around my ankle as I took two seconds to watch the truck that nearly killed me go by. Whatever was holding my pulled hard and I toppled forward and my head crashed into the bark of the tree with a sickening thump, the very same tree the Eraser had collided with. I felt the warmth trickle down my face as I collapsed onto the ground. I felt hands along the sides of my limp body and twist me onto my back once more and then was forced to sit up against the trunk. I whimpered as the Eraser's ugly, mangled, bloody face was in mine once more.

"I wanted to see your face." He smiled wickedly once more and I felt his hand slide painfully forceful to my left knee. "I can tell your left knee is weaker then your right. That means this'll hurt more." He laughed manically. I whimpered louder, unable to speak, when I read in his mind what he was going to do. I tried to struggle, to wiggle away, to get free, free from this evil hybrid.

"Allen…" I muttered, trying to get his attention in this fuzzy world I was living in.

"No one can save you now, Jenna Parker." His wicked grin extended, if that was even possible, and then pressed down as hard as he could on my knee, snapping my leg in two. I heard the bloodcurdling scream escape from my lips but didn't feel anything… only pain… sheer, sharp, uncontrollable, unceasing pain ripping through my entire, quaking body. All of my senses instantly shut down… all I heard was ringing, all I saw was blurry… I watched as the fuzzy figure was tackled off of me and was then replaced by another fuzzy figure that even I recognized as my sister just before my world turned black…

~Ari P.O.V.~

After that awkwardly silent flight, I couldn't wait to just stop for the night and be with Jenna. The thought that she was still pissed at me haunted my every thought… I sighed a breath of relief when we finally began to lose altitude. As we grew closer to our newest campsite, I notice the dark truck and the motorcycle… no Prius… no Jenna… I saw Four and Sam chuckling about something while Six screamed at them to knock it off before snickering herself.

"Where's Jenna?" Max asked when her feet touched the Earth.

"Well, hello to you too." Sam said through a laugh.

"Hi. Where's Jenna?" Max waved and then threw her hands on her hips.

"Nine got pulled over." Four snickered.

"You two are so immature." Six sighed and leaned against the truck, her arms crossed.

"Happens." Sam snickered.

"Are we sure we want to sleep outside tonight? It's almost winter…" Four suddenly turned serious.

"Aww, is someone scared to sleep in the cold?" Six mocked in a baby voice… an Australian baby voice…

"No, I'm just saying, I don't want anyone getting sick." He shrugged.

"Good point." Six shrugged. "But also, do we really want to keep charging motel rooms?" She asked.

"Good point." Four sighed. Then we were all just sitting around, waiting for Jenna before we made any decisions.

"Four, you told her where we are right?" Six asked from where she was laying, in the bed of Four's pick-up.

"No… I did not…" He replied quietly after thinking for a second. Six shot up and glared at him. "Doing it now…" He quickly dialed Jenna's number. "Huh, she's not answering." Four said as he slipped his phone back into his pocket.

"Think she got arrested?" Sam snickered.

"Let's hope no-" Six began to say only to be interrupted by a bloodcurdling scream so horribly gurgled that it didn't even sound human.

"What the hell was that?" I snapped, my head turning in the direction of the sound.

"Let's go." Six growled, already on her feet. We all took off running toward the sound; terrified to see what could actually make a sound like that that horrendous. We ran for a few seconds before coming up on a road.

"There's their car…" Sam mumbled. And then I saw it… Five being overcome by three guys… three Erasers… three supped-up Erasers…

"Five!" Six gasped. He looked up for a second and shook his head, not even seeming to care about the fight anymore.

"Jenna…" He mumbled his eyes were vacant.

"Oh my God…" Nudge breathed. I turned my head and saw them… I immediately and unthinkingly charged and took out the Eraser leaning over her… her lifeless, bloody, mangled body…

"Hey, Ari." The guy growled.

"Shut the hell up." I hissed and beat his face in. I looked up just in time to see the other three guys drop thanks to Max and company, and then everybody rushed to Jenna. Six was already with her, holding her hand, trying to stop the bleeding…

"Guys, move over." Five ordered. Everyone obeyed without question. He knelt by her side, examining her. "Her left knee if broken in two," He moved to her head and he opened both of her eyes one at a time carefully. "And she has a concussion." He looked at Six.

"What, you're a doctor now?" She snapped.

"Titus went to med school and then taught me everything he knew." Five shrugged. "Lay her down." He instructed quickly. "Watch her head!" He snapped as her limp neck allowed her head to drop back as we lowered her torso to the earth. I supported her head and neck, keeping it level with her lifeless body until she was lying down. He moved to her very crooked leg and his face turned pale. "Her knee already set itself…" He shuddered slightly.

"What the hell does that mean?" Six snapped.

"It means that in order for me to set it straight so it'll heal right, I'll have to re-break it." He said regretfully. I felt my eyes widen. I glanced over to Six who looked just as shocked. I turned my gaze to the girl I loved unconscious face… seeing her like this was hard… probably one of the hardest things in my entire life, and I've been experimented on. "Ari, keep pressure on her head." He told me, ripping me from my trance. I nodded and pressed my bare palm against her bleeding forehead. Blood oozed through my fingers causing me to cringe at the feeling. "Four, Six, hold her shoulders, Max, Fang, her arms, Iggy, her right leg." Five said remorsefully. Everyone nodded, their faces sick. Six and Four appeared at my sides and both took a shoulder as everyone took their places. "Just to warn you, she probably will scream… Just keep her on the ground no matter what she does or says." He mumbled before he took Jenna's left knee in both of his hands. I ripped my eyes away just as we heard the snap. I watched Jenna's eyes both open suddenly and another bloodcurdling scream leave her lips. Everyone pushed down at once, pinning her to the ground as she fought us, hard. I could tell that this was just as hard for everyone as it was for me.

"Jenna, baby, relax. Just breathe. This'll be over soon, I promise." I said through her random mash-up of swear words, some were so extravagant and foreign that I didn't even know they existed. Damn, my girl has a mouth on her… I glanced up and saw the younger bird kids huddled close, their faces buried into Nudge, her arms around them. I looked back to Jenna's shocked, pained face. I watched as her eyes focused a few seconds of f-bombs later.

"What the hell?" She snapped slurring slightly, her eyes blazing and agony clear in her voice.

"Jenna, you're hurt. I need you to relax." Five told her, still holding her knee. She whimpered loudly. Her body was trembling, quaking with pain…

"Six…" She whimpered suddenly.

"I'm right here." Six said, looking her sister in her tearful eyes. I watched her pick up Jenna's hand.

"Jenna, talk to me. What do you remember?" Five said quickly as he worked to straighten Jenna's leg. I noticed him glance up. "Jenna, stop biting your lip and talk to us."

"U-uh… I was pulled over by a fake cop…" She mumbled tiredly as she released her bottom lip from in between her teeth.

"And?" Five pried.

"Um, I broke my leg?" She said unsurely.

"How?" Five replied. "Hold her leg straight, keep her talking, and do not let her go to sleep." He ordered Iggy.

"Where're you going?" Iggy snapped as he slipped his hands where Five's were.

"I need to get something out of the car." He said as he got up quickly. "Jenna, tell us how you broke your leg." He glanced at her face before jogging toward the car.

"I was fighting this guy… I think I lost…" She said as her eyes fluttered shut.

"Keep your eyes open." Five snapped as he appeared behind Six suddenly. Her blue eyes re-opened. "What's your name?" Five said as he snapped branches off of the tree.

"Jenna…" She mumbled.

"Last name?" He asked.

"Parker." She replied.

"Do you have a middle name?" Five knelt beside her knee.

"Yeah. But I don't remember it." She whispered after thinking for a minute.

"What's your number?" Five asked through a frown.

"Nine." She replied.

"Good." He nodded as he splinted her broken leg. "Ari, is she still bleeding?" He crawled to my side and started examining her head.

"Not really. A little bit." I replied and took my hands away so he could see.

"Jenna, you have a really fast healing rate." He snickered as he checked her head.

"Cool." Jenna smiled weakly. Her smile was so sweet it made me melt inside.

"How do you feel?" He asked as he backed off.

"My leg hurts and I have a really bad headache." She replied. Her smile faded.

"Try reading my mind." Five demanded. She focused of Five's face for a few seconds.

"You want to go cow tipping?" Her eyebrow rose.

"Exactly." Five smiled down at her.

"You're weird." Jenna slurred.

"Happens." Five shrugged. "Stand her up, guys."

"Ah, movement." Jenna groaned as we slowly got her to her feet. She stood on her good leg and leaned heavily against my chest for support.

"She needs to rest." Five said.

"Campsite is about half a mile that way." Four gestured east. Five nodded and glanced to the unconscious lump lying on the ground where I had left him. He ripped his eyes away.

"Allen, he's not worth it." Jenna mumbled tiredly into my chest, her eyes half open as she gazed at him.

"He could've killed you." Five shot back.

"And I could've killed him. It seems like both parties are at fault here." She replied. How was she so cool about this? It took all I had not to finish him after I tackled him. She was the one he hurt and yet she didn't want revenge? I wished I had her temper… "Five, just pull the car around." She said. He nodded, still looking murderous, and took off toward the Prius. "Nudge, go with him and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." She glanced at Nudge who nodded immediately. I watched her mouth, 'You're welcome.' to Five as he watched Nudge walk toward the car. He winked at Jenna and then got in the driver side. "Carry me?" She looked at me with those big, blue, pleading eyes of hers and jutted out her bottom lip so she looked freaking adorable.

"Of course." I beamed down at her. Four and Six helped me get her comfortably into my arms, making sure her broken leg stayed straight in the makeshift splint. She laid her head tiredly against my shoulder. I glared down at him again and then looked away and took of with Jenna in my arms toward the campsite.

"Ari, wait." His choked, raspy voice stopped me cold in my tracks. I felt myself tense, Jenna must've felt it too because her head lifted up.

"Calm down, baby." I felt her breath against my neck and then her lips press softly against my jaw line. I felt a choppy, ragged breath leave my lips as I slowly turned to face him.

"What?" I snapped as Jenna's hands ran down chest, calming me slightly.

"I was supposed to tell you that Dr. Batchelder's sick. Like really sick." He grumbled as he slowly got to his feet. My eyes widened. "He wants to see you." He continued. Jenna's head rose but then drooped back down when she couldn't hold it up anymore. I glanced down to her; her eyes were still only half open, she was exhausted. I looked back to him, fully on his feet now. "Well, he wants to see both of you," His eyes fled to Max's face. "But he knows that's not happening." He looked back to me. I glanced at my half-sister who was now crossing her arms, her lips pressed in a tight line.

"I'll think about it." I growled and then turned to go. Everyone followed me as I walked away, toward our campsite. I looked down at Jenna who was gazing up at me with those amazing, blue eyes of hers. "What?" I asked her.

"Believe it or not, you're better to look at then the insides of my eyelids." She said weakly, a smile playing on her lips. I chuckled. Weak and still feeling like shit, she still made be laugh, still made me feel loved…

"I love you." I whispered with a grin. I really did. So much that seeing her like this physically hurt me.

"I love you too." She smiled up at me. I leaned my head down and she leaned hers up. Our lips touched gently for a brief second before I pulled back, as hard as doing that was.

"Go to sleep. We need you to get your strength back." I told her.

"Please. I could still kick your ass." She mumbled as she rested her head against my shoulder.

"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that." I snickered and kissed her head.

"I will, don't you worry." She mumbled, almost unrecognizable against my neck. And then, she fell asleep right as we arrived at the campsite. I watched her sleep while the others talked quietly. Six had washed all the dried blood off of her face and she was left with a large gash on her forehead that was already half healed.

I was still awake after everyone else had fallen asleep. I had Jenna tucked protectively into me because I mean, with her, you never really know what you're going to wake up to.

~Jenna P.O.V.~

I shifted slightly in my sleep, but even slightly was enough to cause immense pain that ripped me from what was my very peaceful sleep. I whimpered when I could no longer hold to myself.

"Jenna?" I heard Ari's groggy voice cut through the darkness. "Hey, are you okay?" I felt his arm slide over my waist. "You're trembling…" He whispered.

"My leg hurts." I replied through clenched teeth. It even surprised me at how fragile my voice sounded.

"I know." He sighed. "Just breathe." He scooted closer to me and whispered in my ear. I reached desperately for his hand, squeezing hard when my fingers were coiled into his.

"I am breathing." I mumbled, opening my eyes to glare at him.

"Good. Keep doing that. I don't want you dying." His eyes met mine.

"I always try to not die…" I shrugged, my voiced still pained. "Why aren't you sleeping?" I asked as he filled in the leftover space between us so I could lay my pounding head on his chest.

"I was for a while. We're taking turns watching you to make sure you don't wake up and want something. It took me hours to get your sister to go to sleep." He told me as I listened to his steady heartbeat in his chest.

"So I'm being babysat?" I sighed.

"Not really. You're hurt, not a kid." I felt him shrug.

"Yeah…" I sighed again. "Ari," I spoke up after we just laid there in silence for a little while.

"Hm?" He muttered like he had just woken up.

"You need to go see your dad." I said quickly.

"No way." He snapped as soon as I finished.

"Ari, you need too. Even if it's just a get in, get out kind of thing." I craned my neck so I was looking at his face.

"It could be a trap. Besides, you think I could possibly leave you after you faked your death, and now this." He gestured to my leg.

"I'll be fully healed in a week, it doesn't matter. What does matter is you going to see the man who partly brought you in to this world. What if he's actually sick and dies?" I felt Ari flinch under me.

"I don't know when a good time would be…" He replied.

"How about sometime after we get done in Ohio? I'll be healed by then, I'll even go with you. Unless something Lorien-y comes up that I can get out of." I said tiredly into his chest.

"There is no way in hell I'd let you come with me, way to dangerous." He said and lightly squeezed my hand. "Besides, with your luck it'll be a trap for sure." He snickered and I felt him kiss my head. I looked back up to glare at him, but giggled when I saw him grinning face.

"Probably." I snuggled back against his chest.

"Go back to sleep." He told me and I felt his arms wrap around my torso. I sighed as I closed my eyes.

"I doubt I'll be able to with the amount of pain I'm in righ-" And with that, as if on cue, I was out like a light…

As my brain turned on, I was moving… moving forward… but I was laying… I allowed my eyes to flutter open and then close again as a pure beam of sunlight shot me directly in the eyes.

"Shit." I mumbled.

"Well, good morning to you too, sunshine." Five's snide, British-accented voice greeted me. I re-opened my eyes to see him in the clutching the steering wheel of the Prius in one hand, and dialing a phone with the other. "Fill her in." He winked at someone as he put the phone to his ear. A third person whirled around in the passenger seat, and suddenly, Nudge's smiling face was in mine.

"Okay, so, you've been asleep for like sixteen hours. So like twelve hours ago, we decided to go and stuff." She continued talking, on, and on, and on, and on and-

"Nudge, I love you, I really do, but could you just give me the shortened version?" I cut her off after five minutes of constant words. Five was mumbling in his phone, I saw the number as he dialed: He was talking to Four.

"You've been sleeping for a long time, so they put you in the car and here we are." She explained.

"Sweet." I shrugged. "I feel rested." I sat up carefully so I wouldn't cause any unnecessary pain to my already incredibly painful leg.

"Ari didn't want to leave you. It was actually really cute." Nudge giggled and turned back around in her seat. I smiled to myself, thinking about Ari. I let my head drop back as I closed my eyes, and soon, the Prius came to a slow halt.

"S'what's going on?" I slurred and opened my eyes. Five turned around in his seat and looked at me under my sunglasses that he must have borrowed from me when I had been sleeping.

"We're here." He told me. "By the way, your middle name is Nicole." He snickered, handing me my I.D. the fake cop dropped when he had attacked.

Jenna Nicole Parker… Has a nice ring to it…

* * *

**HELLO THERE. I HOPE YOU ARE WELL. I hoped you liked this chapter and stuff. Tell me what you thought, I really love the feedback! If you have any ideas you think should or should not happen, sure as heck tell me! Loves you! :D**


	24. Chapter 24

"But it's bright outside." I whined as Ari gently pulled me out of the back seat of the car, into the outside air and into his arms.

"Here." He chuckled and popped his sunglasses onto my face.

"Thanks, babes." I giggled drowsily and drooped my head onto his shoulder.

"Sleepy?" His whispered into my ear his voice low and husky.

"Mhm…" I mumbled as my eyes fluttered closed. He chuckled lowly and held me tighter.

"Four, she needs to sleep." I heard his chest rumble as he spoke.

"I know. Sarah?" He replied.

"My family's on vacation for the next week. She can use one of my brother's rooms." A voice I'd never heard before told us.

"Thank you." I heard the smile in his voice. And then I black out. Sudden right? Well, accelerated healing really kills you, like wipes you out.

Any who, I woke up some time later in a very comfy, queen sized bed, my head on top of my very muscular, shirtless lover's chest.

"Jenna? You awake down there, Babe?" His sleepy voice asked.

"Yeah." I murmured, raising my hand and gently brushing over his abs, causing his breath to hitch.

"How's your leg feel?" He choked out.

"It doesn't really hurt." I shrugged.

"Five looked at it while you were out. He said you'd probably be able to walk tomorrow, maybe even later today." He replied, leaning down and kissing my head gently. I chuckled softly and sat up, covering my face in my hands and rubbing my eyes. He sat up with me and wrapped his thick arms around my waist and leaned his head on my shoulder.

"When was the last time you slept?" I asked him and kissed his head.

"I nodded off for about an hour while you were out." He muttered with his lips against my shoulder and since I was in a tank top, it was against the skin.

"That tickles." I giggled.

"Oh, really?" He said against my shoulder again.

"Stop it." I giggled and shrugged.

"Hey, I was laying there." He said playfully.

"And now your not." I snickered and his arms loosened and he turned so he was facing me.

"Meanie." He replied.

"I resent that." I trailed my fingers over his abs again.

"Do I care?" His was voice low and sexy as he leaned in and pressed his lips against mine.

"You better." I mumbled when he pulled away to tilt his head the other way, sliding my fingers up and tangling them into his jet-black hair as my eyes fluttered closed. He slid one of his hands down to my waist and the other one was tangled into my hair, pulling me closer. I moaned once softly as I felt his fingers brushing against my back under the white fabric. "Someone's coming." I whispered against his mouth as I heard thoughts approaching from behind the door.

"Damn it." He sighed against my mouth and pulled his mouth from mine, kissing my forehead, then getting out of bed as I slid back down under the blanket. There was a soft knock on the door just as Ari was pulling his usual, black muscle shirt over his abs. He had on black basketball shorts, showing off his equally muscular legs. I bit my lip as he answered the door.

"Is she awake yet?" I heard my sister's Aussie accent on the other end.

"Yeah, she just woke up." He told her and then let her in.

"Hey." I smiled at her when our faces met.

"Hey. How're you feeling?" She asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed as Ari scooted back into bed on his side.

"Fine." I shrugged. "Little peckish though." I said as I sat up and started stretching. "Hook me up?" I looked up at her.

"Sure. Be right back." She smiled and left Ari and I alone.

"I would of got you food so you her could chatted." Ari said from next to me. I looked down at him since he had his head buried in the pillows.

"No, you need to rest. Your mind tells me you haven't been sleeping well lately." I told him as I slid up and leaned against the headboard. "Come here, baby." I said and cradled his head when it was in my lap. His breathing slowed within the next minute, leaving me as the only conscious one left in the room. I stroked his hair lovingly until Six returned with a sandwich. "He's tired." I chuckled when her eyebrows rose.

"You look happy." She said as she handed me the plate.

"I am." I smiled. "I feel… different… around him, like I can actually be myself." I shrugged carefully enough not to jounce Ari. She blushed. "Looks like you know the feeling, sissy." I added.

"I don't." She lied.

"Why don't I believe you?" I asked as I shoved half the sandwich into my mouth.

"Because you're a little, meddling, mind-reader who loves to as questions." She replied.

"Little? I'll have you know that I am a big girl now." I whined.

"Since when?" She asked.

"Since five minutes ago." I shrugged again. She chuckled. "So how's everyone doing?" I asked.

"Fine. Four's looking for any other lead as the where other numbers are. That's all he's been doing: he won't sleep or eat, hasn't since we got here." She explained sounding very concerned.

"How long have I been out?" I asked.

"You've been sleeping for almost three days now." Shit. That long?

"Why hasn't anyone woken me up? Three days is kind of a long time." I replied.

"We need you to heal. Five has been checking on your leg and he told us that it's good for you to sleep and that you'll heal quicker." She explained.

"How is my leg? Check it." I told her as I finished me sandwich.

"You have two hands." She said.

"Yeah, but I don't want to move and wake up Ari. I can tell he hasn't been sleeping at all, like Four." She blushed as red as a tomato. "And c'mon, he's having a really good dream." I smiled tenderly down at him, blushing slightly at his sleeping, relaxed face. She sighed and uncovered my leg from under the very plush, racecar blanket. My bare knee was covered in a black brace. I was in my pajama shorts. How I got in them: I have no idea, and I did not want to know. She took the brace off and I saw a slightly swollen knee underneath.

"It was twice as big an hour ago." She explained.

"Can I bend it?" I asked, poking it and cringing slightly.

"I don't know, bend it." She snapped.

"You're so loving." I replied sarcastically, wincing slightly as I bent my knee in an acute angle.

"Sorry, sorry. I've stayed up with Four the past few days." She sighed.

"Does anyone in this house sleep anymore?" I asked. "You, Ari, Four. How's the flock? What about Five? How about Sammy?" I asked.

"They're all fine. Five and Nudge have become insuperable, Max and Fang have been trying to get Iggy to lighten up. He and Ari argue every time they're in the same room, so they go on flights while Ari stays with you." She explained.

"That's what happens when you're involved with two guys at the same time." I replied unhappily and let my arms go limp in Ari's hair, loving the feeling of his soft head. Her eyes widened.

"I guess you were right about not being little." She shook her head and smiled playfully and strapped the black brace back onto my knee.

"Not intentionally of course." I replied. "I thought I loved Iggy, so I gave in to him. Then Ari showed up and showed me what love actually was and boom. They already hated each other and I made them constantly want to kill each other." I explained.

"My baby sister is a player." Six snickered.

"Hey, from what I see in your thoughts, you and Four haven't been behaving either." I snickered. I watched her face light up. "When were you going to tell me about your little kiss?" I smiled triumphantly ate her. Her jaw dropped as I watched the scene of her and Johnny boy kiss replayed over and over again in her mind. Yeah: little sister power. "That's totally fine, tell me when you're ready. I'm gonna pee." I winked at her as I gently moved Ari's head onto a pillow and got out of bed.

"Be careful." Six managed to choke out.

"Don't tell me what to do." I replied playfully and limped into the bathroom connected to the room. It surprisingly didn't hurt as bad as I thought it would. I crawled back into bed passed her stunned, frozen face. "I love you and respect your decisions." I said quickly and tore my eyes away when her stunned face turned into rage.

"You're adorable." She huffed sarcastically and she shot off the bed with her arms crossed angrily.

"Thanks, Four thinks so, too." I smiled deviously. She whirled to face me, her face darkening. "Whoa, kidding!" I put my hands up in surrender. "In all honestly, it's all Four thinks about too. I've been seeing it in each of your heads since it happened and we regrouped." I explained. Her jaw relaxed and she blushed.

"You've known since then?" She asked.

"I've known since then. But, again, in all honesty, it's okay to have a softer, loving side. Not that you already don't have one, but you don't have to be the badass Six all the time. Loosen up, have some fun with life. Sure, we're stuck here on a life or death mission, and we have to train, and hone in on our mad skills that exist on some" I pointed at her. "More than others," I pointed at myself. "And yes, sometimes we have to fight scary aliens with big ass guns, and yes, we were ripped from our families, but these are our lives. We're kind of stuck with them. So live." I told her.

"You know, sometimes I feel like you're my older sister." She muttered and sat back down, her arms still crossed.

"Well, I'm not. But it probably comes from the cocky IQ that I wish I didn't have." I snickered.

"Yours is probably higher than mine and Four's combined." She sighed.

"Maybe. But you're prettier. Now go win your man-candy's heart from that Susan chick." I told her.

"It's Sarah, and I'm not a player like someone we know." She winked at me, smirking like the badass Six we all know and can sometimes put up with.

"That's what I said: Samantha. Now get out." I replied.

"Sarah." She told me.

"That's what I said: Santa." I crossed my arms.

"Okay, that's that Christmas guy, and I feel like you're doing this on purpose." She snapped.

"What? Me? Purpose? Nah." I replied.

"Bye." She snickered.

"Bye." I smiled as she leaned in and kissed my head. "Ew, kooties!" I cried.

"Are you six?" She snapped as she got up.

"No, you are." I replied.

"Whatever." She snickered as she walked out of the room and closed the door behind her, leaving Ari and I alone.

"That was beautiful." Ari said, scaring the living Loric out of me.

"Shut up. How long have you been awake?" I replied and looked down at him, clutching my heart in my chest.

"Since you got back from the bathroom." He snickered and smirked up at me.

"Whatever. Go back to sleep." I said and wrapped my arms around him and snuggled myself close, nuzzling my head under his chin.

"You too. I heard you limping." He told me.

"Stop worrying about me." I muttered already feeling exhausted.

"I don't think that's possible. Every time I turn away you're breaking something of dying." He chuckled.

"Shut up." I murmured.

"You shut up." He replied.

"I hate you." I slurred and kissed his throat.

"I hate you more." He muttered lovingly and I felt him kiss my head, and we fell asleep like that together, in each other's arms.

"Guys, stop. I don't want help. I'm perfectly capable of walking to the couch myself." I hissed as everyone asked me if I needed help all at the same time. Everyone backed off and I parked my butt on the couch in between Six and Four. I was awarded by a death glare from sissy-dearest to which I winked at her.

"Okay, well, Nine, this is Sarah." Four introduced, laptop in lap, and I saw a pretty, blond, fragile-looking, full-cheeked, blue-eyed chick poke her head out from the other side of Four.

"Hi, Sally!" I smiled at her.

"It's Sarah." Four snapped.

"Suzanne?" I replied.

"Sarah." Four's eyebrows narrowed.

"Santa?" My eyebrows rose.

"That's the Christmas guy." Four snapped.

"Oh, sorry, Sarah." I stressed her name. "I'm not from here." I winked at her, causing her to chuckle. 'I don't like her.' I said into Six's mind. She snickered and squeezed my hand. Ari sat on the floor by my legs as we watched some random Showtime movie and a few minutes, the flock, minus Iggy, entered the house. Five and Nudge were instantly reunited, smiling and blushing like they haven't seen each other in days. Then their eyes fell on me. "Hey guys." I smiled at them.

"You look well rested." Max grinned.

"I am." I snickered. "'Cept I got that weird headache that you get when you sleep for too long, know what I mean?" I added and scratched my head.

"Tylenol?" Ari looked up at me.

"Bless you." I smiled at him. He squeezed my not braced knee and then got up and left the room. A very disgruntled Iggy entered the room, very dark circles under both of his sightless, blue eyes.

"Hey, Ig." Fang said, clapping him on the back.

"Hey." He said almost emotionlessly. "How's Jenna?" He asked and his face lit up.

"In the room actually." Fang told him.

"Hey, Iggy." I said quietly.

"Hey, Jenna." He smiled slightly.

"Here you go." Ari came up from behind the couch and handed me two pills and a glass of water.

"Thanks, Babe." I pecked his lips gently and took the cup and pills. He winked at me and then went back to where he was previously sitting. I popped the pills and chugged the water. "So what's been going on?" I looked at Four.

"The other numbers are very well hidden. That's a good thing: if we weren't trying to find all of them." Four explained.

"Gimme." I made grabby hands like a baby until he handed me the laptop. He slid the laptop into my lap. "It's so warm." I giggled when the warm bottom touched my bare thighs. "Okay, so do we know anything at all?" I looked at him.

"No. We found a lead about a guy in Florida arrested for some pretty bizarre stuff down there." Four explained.

"Which part?" I replied.

"Miami area." He said.

"There's a lot of drug trafficking up there, it's been all over the news lately. Very illegal: but unfortunately of this planet. It's probably just some hopped up Junkie that doesn't know when to stop." Five's very yummy, British accented voice said explained.

"That's exactly what I was thinking." I smirked at him.

"Then where you two smartasses think they are. We've been looking since we got here for any potential Loric and have seriously found nothing-"

"Found her." I interrupted Four as he lectured Five and I.

"What?" His jaw dropped and he and Six leaned over to look at the screen.

"Her name is Anneliese Friedenstab. She is currently living in…" I clicked the link. "Oh, looky here: Ingolstadt, Germany. That's a cool place; lived there through a month." I looked up from the screen.

"How did you…?" Four's voice faded.

"I Googled weird scar patterns and her Facebook popped up. You're on there too, Lover Boy." I glanced up at Five. His eyes widened. "Don't worry, hacking and overriding right… wait for it… now." I watched as the image of Five and his scars was deleted. "You're off the Internet now." I winked at him.

"Thanks." He snickered.

"Okay, so, who's going to Germany?" I looked from face to face.

"Sure as hell not you." Four snapped.

"Aw, c'mon, Johnny boy. Why you got to be the buzz kill?" I looked at him.

"Because knowing your luck, you'll 'die' again." Why yes, he did put air quotes around die. "We should all go if anyone goes." Four proposed.

"Yeah, and leave the Mogs free in America for the Americans to deal with." I replied, crossing my arms stubbornly.

"She has a point." Six butted in.

"Fine. Six and I will go." Four snapped.

"I'm sorry, but who here knows German?" Five asked. I raised my hand like a smartass, but so did Five so I wasn't alone. "See, Nine and I should go." Five said.

"No way she's leaving me to go to Germany." Ari growled and Five and pointed at me.

"You worry too much, Sweetie. I can take care of myself." I told him, playing with his hair in the process.

"Says the girl who's 'died' twice." Max cut in; putting those damned air quotes around the word died.

"Hey, I didn't actually die. I'm still here." I said sending a glare Max's way.

"But what about tomorrow? And the next day? And what about the next? Jenna, we don't want to loose you for real, hell: we don't even want to fake loose you again!" Fang snapped in a fatherly tone.

"I think that's the longest thing you've ever said to me, Fang. And guys, I'm not going to actually die anytime soon. I promise all of you." I said in all seriousness, looking from face to face. I looked at Sarah who looked very confused. "I 'died' in a fire and from a 'stabbing'. Happens." I shrugged.

"I'll sleep on it." Four said a few minutes of sinking in time later. "I'm going to bed." He said and stood up.

"Night." I murmured along with everyone else in the room. Sarah followed him up the stairs, hand in hand. 'Let it go.' I sent to Six who started thinking very not nice thoughts. She huffed and slid down on the couch. Sam, who had been silently sitting next to her this entire time, yawned.

"Go to bed, Sam." Six whispered to him. He nodded and went up stairs after we all said our goodnights.

"You too. Where're you sleeping?" I asked her.

"The couch." She shrugged.

"Ari, let's go to bed so she can have the couch." I looked at Ari who was now at my side.

"I'm fine." She insisted.

"You look like hell." I told her. "Sleep. Get your strength back. We'll talk about everything tomorrow, and for shits sake: stop losing sleep worrying about me. Night." I told her and wrapped my arms around her, squeezing her once gently. I said goodnight to everyone else and then Ari carried me into the room we were sharing and tucked me in bed. "I'm actually not tired." I sighed when he joined me under the blankets.

"So what do you want to do?" He asked.

"I actually have a question for you." I said.

"Ask away." He replied.

"If I go to Germany, while I'm gone, will you go see your Dad?" I turned to face him in the darkness. I felt him tense up next to me. "At least call him or something." I sighed when he didn't answer.

"Fine. I'll go see him." He sighed. "But only if you go to Germany." He added.

"Deal." I agreed. "Germany's really far away." I sighed.

"You think?" He sighed.

"I'll miss you." I pouted.

"I'll miss you too, especially if I end up at the School." He replied reluctantly.

"Just make it a get in get out thing. Be all: 'Hi, Dad. Bye, Dad. Get better.'" I mocked his voice. "And then go back to where ever the Flock, Six, Sam, and Four are. And Suzie, if she's there." I told him.

"What if it's a trap?" He asked.

"Then call me and I'll personally kick the living crap out of everyone that even looks at you funny." I replied, sounding tough in my Canadian accented glory. He sighed.

"It's Sarah, by the way." He said.

"Close enough." I shrugged.

"What if someone called you Jeanna?" He asked, smiling like a nerd.

"Then I'd ignore them and be all, 'That's not my name.'" I replied.

"What if they got in your face, and were all, 'Hey, Jeanna. Hey. Jeanna. Jeanna, hey. Hey, Jeanna. Jeanna. JEEEEAAANNNNAAAAAA!'" He replied, getting closer and closer to my face with each word. I pecked his lips.

"I'd do that if it were you, and then be all, 'You should know my name.'" I pushed him away gently. Him, being the annoying wolf man he is, came right back, centimeters from my face.

"What if I were Iggy?" He asked, more accusingly.

"You're really asking that?" I snapped.

"Yeah, I am. Because he's convinced that you're still in love him and I need to know you're not." He replied, his voice heavy.

"Ari," I pressed my mouth to his and held it there, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him closer. I pulled away about a minute later. "You should know I choose you, always." I said, looking him straight in the eyes.

"I know." He sighed. "I just don't want to lose you."

"And you won't." I smiled. He smiled back and kissed my lips "Expect right now." I said and pulled away. His eyes narrowed. "I'm gonna go shower." I said and scooted out from under him. "Try not to miss me too much, Babe." I giggled as I got up and limped toward the bathroom.

"Need any help?" He called seductively.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" I called back.

"Yes." He replied simply.

"Kinky." I giggled as I shut the door. And then I was alone. I showered quickly; using shampoo I guessed was Nudge's and left the bathroom after toweling drying my hair and changing into a pair of basketball shorts and a tee shirt I borrowed from Ari, who was laying flat on his back on the bed, clearly trying to sleep.

"Hey." He muttered as I slid next to him.

"Hey." I said and laid down.

"Well, don't you look adorable in my clothes?" He snickered.

"When am I not adorable?" I replied jokingly.

"Good point." He chuckled as his eyes closed. I scooted closer and cradled his head against me until he was asleep. After about two hours of aimlessly trying to sleep, I sighed and got about of bed, limping toward the kitchen. I saw Six snoring quietly on the couch as I crept forward.

"What are you doing up?" Four asked, startling me in the darkness. He flipped on the dim light over the sink and I saw his tall figure leaning against the counter.

"I've been sleeping for three days. It's natural for me not to be tired." I replied. "What's your poison?" I asked him when I realized his eyes were red from sleeplessness.

"Can't sleep." He replied.

"From?" I asked.

"Thinking." He said.

"About?" I pried as I grabbed a water bottle out of the fridge.

"I don't feel comfortable sending you and Five off to Germany." He snapped.

"Is that all you're throwing a hissy about?" I snickered as I downed half the bottle.

"I'm not throwing a hissy fit." He replied.

"'Kay, sorry." I put my hands, bottle in the left, up in surrender. "But, hey: someone has to go though and it may as well be the two who know German." I suggested. He shrugged in response. "What else is on your mind?" I asked, sensing there was something else bugging him.

"Nothing." He snapped, running his fingers through his short hair.

"You and Sabina seem sickeningly happy." I said.

"It's Sarah, and you and Ari seem the same." He replied.

"We're grand, just grand. But why don't you seem happy?" I sat on a barstool and propped my head up with my hand.

"Can I be honest with you?" Four hopped up on the counter.

"I'd be insulted if you didn't." I replied.

"I don't think I'm… in love… with Sarah…" He admitted, blushing dark, dark red. "We've drifted apart since I left the first time I left and she seems closer to Sam then me now." He explained sadly.

"And how do you feel?" I pried, getting excited to see where this was going, well, for my sister's sake.

"Well, I'm confused because I think there's someone else, but I know it's not a good idea… you know…" He told me.

"Who else would there be?" I asked.

"Uh-well-"

"What are you two doing up?" Six's groggy voice muttered out as she appeared in the entrance. My heart sank.

"Nothing, Six. I couldn't sleep." Four replied, a smile playing on his lips. My jaw dropped. Could she be the someone else? That would be perfect.

"What about you?" She turned her tired, half-open eyes on me.

"Same. Ari fell asleep and I got bored… and thirsty…" I glanced down at my water bottle. "Yeah, mostly thirsty." I kicked out the stool next to me.

"Why are you up?" Four asked.

"Heard voices, thought I'd investigate." She replied as she sat down, leaning her head against my shoulder. She was dressed in a gray tank top and black shorts that looked really comfy.

"Well don't worry; we're not Mogs or anything." I snickered. "Well, Four might be. But I'm not. Let's get him."

"Go to bed, Nine." Four chuckled, shaking his head slightly.

"Make me." I replied. Four and Six exchanged glances. "No, guys, I didn't mean it." I exclaimed quietly as Six pinned both of my arms behind my back with her head still relaxed on my shoulder. Her and Four ended up silently carrying me up the stairs and putting me back in bed with the still snoring Ari. "I feel hated." I whispered as they were walking away.

"Night, Nine." Four chuckled as the two of them walked out the door, closing it behind them. I sighed and crossed my arms, snuggling closer to Ari and falling asleep within the next hour:

Really hoping that tomorrow goes well.

* * *

**I'm back, baby! I'm really sorry this took so long to get posted, but taaahhdahhh! I hope it was worth the wait, sure there's a lot of talking, but I sincerely hoped you liked that talking! Tell me what you thought and if you have any ideas to make this story better, PM me or tell me in a review! One quick shout out, I'd like to thank cleon561 for helping me get back on my feet with this story! You rock, yo!**


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